Loading content
Intellectual Property
The Copyright Act 2022 modernised Nigerian copyright law for digital distribution, restating what is protected, who owns it, how long it lasts and what fair dealing allows.
Copyright Act 2022
Our explanation, written for a general reader. It is not the text of the law.
Copyright protects the expression of an idea fixed in a work — literary, musical, artistic, audiovisual, sound recordings and broadcasts — not the idea itself. Protection arises on creation; registration is not what brings the right into existence, though records help enormously in proving it.
Ownership does not always follow the person who made the work. Employment and commissioning arrangements, and any written assignment or licence, decide who holds what. This is why the paperwork on a commissioned logo, photograph or piece of software matters far more than clients expect.
The 2022 Act reworked the framework for the digital environment, including provisions addressing online infringement and the role of platforms, and it continues the Nigerian Copyright Commission's administration of the system. Fair dealing exceptions exist but are narrower than 'I credited the author'.
Where the official text lives, beside what it means in ordinary language.
Official text
Works eligible for copyright
Copyright Act 2022 — eligible works
Plain language — our explanation
The Act lists the categories of work that copyright protects and the conditions of eligibility, including fixation.
Official text
Assignment and licensing
Copyright Act 2022 — transfer of copyright
Plain language — our explanation
Copyright can be assigned or licensed, and the Act sets requirements — including writing — for transfers to be effective.
Official text
Online infringement
Copyright Act 2022 — provisions addressing digital infringement
Plain language — our explanation
The Act provides a route for rights owners to act against infringing material online, with obligations attaching to service providers.
Official text
The Commission
Copyright Act 2022 — Nigerian Copyright Commission
Plain language — our explanation
The Nigerian Copyright Commission administers the copyright system, including the notification scheme creators use to record works.
In real life
A designer is paid for a logo, and the client later finds they cannot register it as a trade mark.
Payment alone may not have transferred copyright. A written assignment is what moves ownership.
In real life
A brand uses a photographer's image in a campaign with credit.
Attribution is not a licence. Permission for the specific use is the question the Act asks.
What you should do
What you should not do
“If it is not registered, it is not protected.”
Copyright arises on creation of an eligible work. Records assist proof; they are not the source of the right.
“Short extracts are always fair dealing.”
Fair dealing is defined and limited. Length is one factor among several, and commercial use weighs heavily.
What this instrument was, what changed, and what is in force now. Superseded versions are kept on the record rather than deleted.
What changed
Advice on Nigerian copyright written before this Act may describe a framework that no longer applies, particularly online.
What changed
When to speak to a lawyer