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April 26, 2025 by Our Reporter
As World IP Day marks a record two and half decades in the mission of raising awareness about the role of IP with this year’s theme ‘IP and Music: Feel the beat of IP”, the world of music deservedly takes another front seat after it made its debut ten years ago with the earlier theme “Get up. Stand up. For Music”. This recognition is a testament to the remarkable power and allure of music as one of man’s most potent forms of creative expression. The chequered legacy of intellectual property itself has had a historic connection with the musical genre and remains inextricably tied to the universality and global compact of music as a creative life-force naturally meant for the promise that copyright holds, among all other forms of creativity eligible for protection. The power of music is seen and felt everywhere but at no other time as today has that power proven as impactful and forceful in the pursuit of happiness and every area of life, be it personal, spiritual, social, business, political and more. Shakespeare wrote of music as ‘the food of love’. Music is not just the food of the human soul; it has become the food of life – a nourishment at the core of human existence. Music secured by IP has brought fame and fortune to generations of music creators worldwide. Expounding the interplay of music and IP as this year’s theme, WIPO declares “From the rhythms that invite us to dance to the lyrics that echo our emotions, music enriches every aspect of our lives. Music is a universal form of creative expression and intellectual property (IP) rights play a pivotal role in supporting a vibrant and diverse music landscape. Music permeates every sector, and IP fosters the presence of music beyond its own realm”. Beyond the metaphor, music has continued to add value, serve humanity and foster societal peace and harmony. In concrete terms, it functions across industries – entertainment, technology, fashion, sports, video games, commerce, marketing and branding, advertising, and more.
Since the early days, music has entered the universe of copyright and gingerly remains there, gaining momentum with the increasing dominance of global recording industry. Without copyright, the law’s recognition of the power and culture of music would have remained largely elusive, given the complexities and the dynamic trajectories of IP and music in the last half a century. The normative role of IP has been salutary to music as a creative entity eligible for protection and the incentives to music creators, the music industry, as well as public interest. From its origin in the prohibition of unauthorised copying of sheet music to the protection of musical composition in the 1800s, to the institution of exclusive rights in public performances, broadcasting, making of sound recordings in any medium, including the rights of making available in file sharing and streaming with the advent of digital technology, copyright regime for music has expanded inexorably. Live performances and expression of folklore, commonly referred to as ‘neighbouring rights’ have readily joined the web of protection in many jurisdictions and internationally. The increased term of protection, as well as the realm of infringement and liability under copyright law, has benefited music creators and the recording industry worldwide. IP as the primary legal framework for the protection of creativity comprising IP rights, administration and enforcement, including collective management systems, the more recent fair use doctrine, secondary liability and anti-circumvention rules of the digital era, has played indispensable roles in navigating the emergent environment. This legal gamut implies that IP and copyright in particular are indeed the cornerstone of the music industry.
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Significantly, a trilogy of developments in WIPO’s norm-setting annal across 200 years best attests to WIPO’s fidelity to the international protection of music as a creative enterprise. That, for the most part, was a watershed in the normative evolution of music-copyright complex and the promotion of the narrative that copyright is the bedrock of the music industry. First, it began with the seminal Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886), including music and its Berlin Revision of 1908 which further reinforced music protection with the inclusion of sound recording, among others, in the categories of protected works under the Berne. The second development was defined by two of WIPO’s treaties; the Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations (1961) and the Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996) which signposted music copyright for the new technological environment that ushered in 21st century full-blown digital dispensation. This was joined by WTO’s TRIPs Agreement of 1995. The third phase was the WIPO’s first treaty of the 21st century, Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances (2012), though expanded the economic and moral rights of audiovisual performances, also extended protection for performers’ rights of musicians and singers alike. This international legal architecture lies at the heartbeat of IP protection for the music industry and has resonated in the rapid succession of copyright reform across jurisdictions both in the strength of IP law and policy-making and the campaign against piracy and counterfeiting, the twin menace of the creative industries worldwide. The exponential growth of copyright in the last 100 years into the digital age has influenced the current copyright debate about the global music industry and fortunes of generations of the world’s music talents and musical revolution, in particular the Afrobeats renaissance on the Continent. Today, the gravity of Afrobeats as a global phenomenon that is increasingly felt cannot be locked in the shadows of IP. The prospects of a new dawn now await the emerging generation of African and Nigerian music talents, Afrobeats’ leading exponents, as the world embraces the sound of Africa such that neither IP itself nor its long-standing tensions with traditional knowledge (TK) protection can diminish any longer.
To the eternal credit of IP reform, the progressive expansion of the ‘exclusive rights’ that have shaped the protection of musical works and sound recording has responded to the massive explosion of the music industry as a cultural and economic powerhouse, and a net contributor to the global knowledge economy. Today, official reports point to the pivotal role of the music industry and the value of the rights of musicians, composers and producers in the ever-competitive global and digital marketplace. In 2024 alone, the over USD29 billion mark in revenue of the global recorded music industry represents an increasing growth trajectory that is largely driven by digital evolution through streaming and performing revenue. Afrobeats industry, again, has made significant inroads as a frontier economy, and by all means, has continued to contribute to wealth creation, enhanced revenue streams, cultural influence and soft power. With over N728 billion in the combined contribution of the Nigerian creative industry to the national economy, the social, economic and cultural power of music is not lost on the recent reforms taking place in the IP and creative ecosystem. WIPO’s theme ‘feel the beat of IP’ therefore is a clear reflection of the present momentum and certainly comes alive in the rapidly evolving Nigerian music industry that has continued to engage global attention as it compels new and innovative models of governance, transformative engagement and building collaboration in the spirit of the historic partnership between IP and music.
• Professor Adewopo (SAN) is a former Director General of Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
World IP Day
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