Tag: Personal Branding

Posted in Article, Brand Identity, Business, Career, Guest Post, Public Relations

The Relevance of Protecting Intellectual Property Rights In The Creative Industry – Wizkid V. Wisekid

Posted on by @bravepublicity

Introduction

In 2020, Nigeria was named home to the ‘largest’ music industry in Africa and undoubtedly continues to gain local and global attention; due to numerous internationally award-winning musicians, artists, managers, producers, promoters, record labels, marketers, and distributors.
This global attention also extends to international recognition, comprising innumerable international performances and collaborations with renowned foreign artists and record labels.

Background

The Nigerian music industry has birthed several genres of music with a hearty mixture of hip-hop, R&B, reggae, and gospel as it continues to flourish in the spotlights; as a result, one might be curious about what the financial and economic implications are for these artists and Nigeria as a whole.

According to Statista Research Department[1], This industry’s revenue grew from 26 million U.S. dollars in 2014 to 34million U.S. dollars in 2018 and is estimated to generate about 44million U.S. dollars by 2023.
This contributes a tremendous amount to Nigeria’s GDP[2], which was 448.1 billion U.S dollars in 2019 only.

For this article, we would be considering the importance of protecting the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) [3] of creatives in the Nigerian music industry.

Further considering how profitable this industry currently is, one would envisage that ‘top’ safety measures are put in place to secure the intellectual properties of these creatives from infringement both locally and internationally.
One would expect that these creatives fully profit from their works without undue hindrance.

However, that is not the case as there is an unusual norm that plagues both the upcoming and the ‘biggest’ artists in the Nigerian music industry. There is an inability to protect IPR from infringement.

CASE STUDY

According to Celebrity Net Worth[4] Wizkid is a Top Nigerian singer, performer, and songwriter who has a net worth of 4 million U.S. dollars. He is widely recognized across Africa and in the Afrobeat community, reaching international prominence by collaborating with famous persons in the music industry such as Drake, Beyoncé, Tyga, Swae Lee, and Major Lazer to name a few. After working with other high-profile musicians, Wizkid branched out into the mainstream music scene. Being the first Nigerian citizen to amass 1 million followers on Twitter; He is undoubtedly one of the most famous Nigerians of all time.

Wizkid V. Wisekid

A Wizkid imposter ‘Wisekid’ set up to illegally profit from copying Wizkid on the digital space. ‘Hosea Yohanna’[5] an upcoming Nigerian artist; acquired millions of streams in just 7 months, starting from October 2020 by cloning Wizkid’s ‘Made in Lagos’ album with his album named ‘Lasgidi Made’ having 9.3 million plays and 1.2 thousand purchases on Apple music alone.

The similarities of both names were unmistakable, and though the album songs had different lineups, all Names were the same. Even the songs sounded similar. Wisekid also went ahead to create a clone Twitter and Instagram account with the handle ‘@wisekidaya’ which was indisputably made to look just like Wizkid’s handle ‘@wizkidayo’ for both accounts having a following of over 8.4 million on Twitter and 12.1 million on Instagram.

Wisekid was discovered sometime in early April 2021 by Wizkid fans when he posted screenshots of his Lasgidi Made album streams on his Twitter page captioned ‘on God’, stirring up so much controversy. After ‘@africafactzone’ on Twitter reported that he was making 30 million Naira monthly, which amounts to about 79 thousand U.S. dollars from copying Wizkid. 

Wisekid replied to that tweet stating, “…I’m just an upcoming artist, I know nothing about this…”
He also tweeted that ‘Freeme Digital’ distributed all his songs and said that he had no idea, ‘Freeme Digital’, however, stated that although they distributed his old songs, the album Lasgidi Made was never one of them.

Although Wizkid did not respond to the social media frenzy, one of his managers ‘Jada Pollock’ shared on her Twitter that the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had begun working on taking down the album. Lasgidi Made was taken off of Apple Music, Amazon, and Spotify. Consequently, the wisekids Twitter account got suspended.

Akinyemi[6] Opined that ‘Wizkid’ had become a trademark attached to the person ‘Ayo Balogun’, his public ‘goodwill’ building for over 10years. Therefore such ‘goodwill’ is attached to the name Wizkid. He explained; that the trademark was associated with a certain level of excellence. Hence, whatever bears such a mark would attract the loyal audience of the brand who associate it with excellence and cause them to consume its products.

Consequently, if unauthorized persons benefit from the name Wizkid by exploiting or posing as though such a name belongs to them, the person named ‘Ayo Balogun’ the owner of the registered Copyright and Trademark to that name, has the right to bring legal actions against such individuals.

The Benefits of Protecting Intellectual Property Rights[7]

  1. Protects it against infringement by others and ultimately defends in the courts your sole right to use, make, sell, reproduce or import it.
  2. It stops others from using, making, selling, reproducing, or importing it’ without your permission.
  3. It earns you royalties by licensing it.
  4. It may be exploited by way of strategic alliances.
  5. You can make money by selling it.

A farmer, who owns farmland with cattle and cash crops before he starts farming, puts up a fence around his property to protect it. That, in turn, prevents his cattle from straying and also discourages persons from trespassing. The farmer protects his farm and yields a lot of profit in return. Such a farmer experiences little or no loss in his business.

Similarly, if a person would put a fence around his physical property to protect it, what stops an artist from putting measures in place to protect his intellectual property(IP) of great value? Could it be due to the extreme intangible nature of IP; that he does not know how to protect it? Or has he refused to do so for other reasons?

Reasons Why Creatives Do Not Protect Their Intellectual Properties

There are hosts of reasons why creatives do not protect their IP. These reasons narrowed to a few such as;

  1. Lack of awareness.
  2. Attempting to do it yourself (DIY).
  3. Refusal to seek professional assistance (or simply believing that it is not necessary).
  4. Financial concerns.
  5. The “Till I’m big” Mindset.

Reasons as these often pose ‘major’ threats to IP growth and development in the Nigerian music industry.
Nevertheless, there are ways in which one can protect their IP rights.

How To Protect The IP Rights of Creatives in the Music Industry

Akinyemi Ayinoluwa, a Music and IP lawyer and partner at Hightower solicitors and advocates, stated in his interview[8] with Entertainment News that; regardless of the persistent problems of creation safety, artists still have options. He noted that the best way for an artist to protect their works is by constantly policing all aspects of their IP.

He further stated that handlers should always be on the lookout for infringements such as Copyright and Trademark, as seen in the case study above. Akinyemi advises that there would always be those who would try and illegitimately exploit the works of others. However, a creator must always be alert and have an infrastructure or Team that constantly policies IP rights.

Recommendations

The writer advises that every creative must prioritize the protection of their works from the onset. Such can either be by way of Copyright, Trademark, or Trade secret protection. No idea or creation is too little; so long it is the creator’s IP.

Creatives may not be able to stop infringers, but they can adequately protect themselves by being aware of their IPR, seeking professional help, and constantly keeping the IPR under scrutiny. Not only does this discourage infringers, but it also gives creatives full access to enjoy and exploit the benefits accruing from their works without interruption.

Conclusion

Creatives at various levels get affected by intellectual property infringement; no one is out of the grasps of this menace, big, small, upcoming, or established.
There are always those seeking to take advantage of the IPR of others and make an undue profit. Others ride on the goodwill of creatives which they have worked hard to establish over time. Therefore one must be on the watch at all times.

Article by Ibukun Adeyemi.
LL.B 2020 || Intellectual Property Law and Media and Entertainment Law Enthusiast || Legal Assistant.

Posted in Article, Business, Career, Leadership, Self development

Article: Effective Communication

Posted on by @bravepublicity

Friendships, relationships, businesses and communities are built on communication. Without the ability to communicate, the world will be in disarray, filled with much misunderstanding, breeding loneliness and possibly the exasperation of being misunderstood or judged wrongly.

Effective communication is what makes systems, structures and our relations with others work out smoothly. It is an essential factor for long lasting relationships.
It is such a powerful skill that aids conflict resolution, strengthens bonds between nations, people, and changes the perspective of long standing disputes and disagreements between people or communities.

Life circumstances become better as a result of effective communication. However, the application of this very essential soft skill is based on established understanding and relevance, a skill not many have mastered.

When the value of a skill is established, only then does it appeal to those in need of it. This is so about effective communication.

Does it really hold that much value?
Can it be obtained and mastered by all?
Does it really have the power to resolve conflicts and end long standing wars?

What does “Effective Communication” really mean?

To put to rest some of these questions, let’s explore the definition and attributes that make up the phrase, “Effective Communication.”

Let’s begin with the word ‘Communication’.
‘Communication’ means to exchange information through speaking, writing or some other form of medium. It is also the act of conveying meanings from one entity or group to another, through the use of mutually understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules.

‘Effective’ means to reach an optimal level, a peak of excellent delivery or performance.

In order words, ‘Effective Communication’ means, exchange of information between parties at an optimal level, where the entities or groups involved have mutual understanding of what is being conveyed and can respond accordingly.

So, effective communication is only established when all parties involved are able to create mutual, accurate and clear understanding of what is conveyed.

Some defining attributes make this possible and without them, it is often impossible to have effective communication and they include these four broad features: Conversation, Sound, Cues and Action.

Let’s examine each of them for more insight.

Conversation

To establish excellent or effective communication. The conversation or message being conveyed needs to be understood by both or all parties involved.
A conversation that is one sided with decisions being set in motion by one party, is an enforcement, not a mutual agreement. Both or all involved must have mutual understanding of the dialogue.

When this is absent, effective communication cannot be achieved and this involves active and attentive listening. This means, listening to respond accurately to the message being conveyed, not just listening to speak in turn.

This is a challenge for many people and organizational leaders, and so the result is, effective communication is never established, breeding dissatisfaction with all involved in the conversation.

In a dialogue, the focal point, challenge or objective must be identified and acknowledged by all involved and then satisfactory solutions and actions can be established.
This is only possible when attentive and active listening is put in play, when conversations and meetings are held.

Sound

Sound gives meaning to a message and strengthens conversations. It is essential in establishing excellent or effective communication, when used appropriately. Sound in terms of the ‘Voice’ and ‘Tone’ of a message, whether spoken, written or conveyed via art or creativity.

The established tone or voice can ultimately determine the meaning of the message being conveyed. It could be deciphered as either compassionate, hostile, mild, suggestive, derogatory, exhilarating, cheerful, gloomy, heated, commanding, weak, strong, assertive, guarded and the list goes on.

Many people, institutions, nations or communities have been able to establish excellent or poor communication, hence developing amazing or terrible relationships as a result of the choice of voice and tone.

This is very critical factor, as interpretation of conversations are often made based on the perceived tone or voice by the conveyor of any message.

Also many great writers have gained mastery of this very important skill in the act of communication, artistically infusing the appropriate voice and tone with their words, creating excellent publications across a genre of books that have stood the test of time and have attracted great readership and rewards.

The ability to identify the appropriate tone or voice for use in various dialogue circumstances or deduce what is being received from others, ultimately helps one understand accurately any conversation. It also helps one identify improvement opportunities for effective communication in active discussions or feedback.

Cues

Cues are so essential in communication and they include verbal and non-verbal cues. These can be easily decrypted from time lapses and body language.

Time lapses, a pause in a conversation, verbal or written (a presence of silence for a period or a written symbol for a dialogue expressed in written words) is often indicative of something, usually an impression or meaning the conveyor wants one to decipher.

Such time lapses could mean disinterest, disregard, a plea for understanding and reconsideration, fear, anger, permission to hear out the other person or party, a gentle nudge towards reflection or appraisal, etc. regarding an already established dialogue or an on going conversation.

Time lapses are typically applied to strengthening an impression regarding information that has already been laid bare by a conveyor.  That pause or silence often carries a weight and has meaning in an ongoing conversation.

In the same vein, the body language of a conveyor or the parties involved also expresses and strengthens the meaning of a message, often combined with or without voiced expressions.

The body language may express, pain, weariness, passion, anger, joy, excitement and a variety of emotions that eventually makes a conveyed message more accurately deciphered.

The entire context and content of such conversations enables one to identify differences and the real meaning that should be deduced from such a dialogue.

Actions

For effective communication, one of the most credible ways of deducing if a dialogue has reached a point of mutual understanding by both parties is by the actions that follow.

If the actions that follow are satisfactory and correspond with the resolutions and agreement by all parties or the conveyor of a message in a dialogue, then one can say that effective communication has been established. If not, what may ensue is a lot of friction and resistance.

Many times, individuals pay attention to only what is being said, without paying close attention to the actions that follow as well. In corporate environments as well as social circles, this plays out all the time. When one pays close attention to actions that follow any conversation, then one can understand accurately what is being communicated.

However, it is important to note that these four (4) highlighted features work in harmony and the application or interpretation of just one or some from an active discourse may lead to wrong conclusions regarding a message or due to poor communication.

But when all of these features are applied in sync, it helps in accuracy, clarity, mutual agreement and ultimately, effective communication.

I hope you found this article to be insightful and helpful.
Thank you for reading.

Article by Opeolu Adeyemi.
Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant
Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!