Song Remix: An Infringement on the Intellectual Property Right of the Original Artiste?

Abstract

Intellectual Property Rights are rights whose importance cannot be underestimated in the development of all countries, particularly developing countries like Nigeria. One of the fast rising/growing industries in Nigeria is the Music Industry and in its own way, it has contributed and is contributing immensely to the development and restoration of good image of the country, nationally and internationally. Notwithstanding this, the problem of copyright infringement on musical works of artistes in the Nigerian Music Industry is rapidly growing, but is not taken seriously by these artistes. This makes the writer doubt the awareness of Nigerian artistes as to copyright law. Thus, this research work aims to enlighten its readers on the meaning of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs), how IPRs can be protected, the importance of the protection of IPRs, the position of the law on the act of song remixing, actions for infringement, exceptions and defence against the claim of copyright infringement.

Keywords: Intellectual Property Rights, Copyright, Musical Works, Infringement, Song Remix

JEL Classification: K10, K19