Creative Industries and Informal Economies: The Case of Nigerian Video

International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 337-354, 2010

32 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2020

See all articles by Ramon Lobato

Ramon Lobato

Swinburne University of Technology

Date Written: July 1, 2009

Abstract

Since the emergence of its video industry in the 1990s, Nigeria has become the largest film producer in the world by output. Its informal economy now provides around two thousand films a year for a pan-African audience, and the industry has grown rapidly without assistance from the state, NGOs, or the film festival circuit. This article analyses the rise of ‘Nollywood’ through the lens of current debates in media studies. The Nigerian video economy offers compelling evidence for the role of informal markets in creating efficient and economically sustainable media industries. Its success also has implications for current debates around copyright and media piracy. I conclude that reading Nigerian video as a creative industry represents a useful way to rematerialize media studies in the overdeveloped world.

Keywords: Nigerian video, Nollywood, creative industries, informality, copyright, intellectual property, piracy, regulation, informal media economies

Suggested Citation

Lobato, Ramon, Creative Industries and Informal Economies: The Case of Nigerian Video (July 1, 2009). International Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 13, No. 4, pp. 337-354, 2010 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1501942

Ramon Lobato (Contact Author)

Swinburne University of Technology ( email )

Mail H53
PO Box 218
Melbourne, 3121
Australia

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