Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has urged stakeholders in the entertainment industry to leverage the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism for speedy resolution of disputes in view of the time consuming, cost intensive and highly technical nature of copyright and intellectual property (IP) litigations.

Mr. John O. Asein, the Director-General of NCC, stated this in his remarks at a webinar on Mediation and Arbitration for Entertainment Disputes, organised by the Commission, in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Nigeria Office, recently.

According to him, “Cases in the entertainment industry deal with aspects of law that are peculiar and fairly technical which the regular courts may not always be well equipped to handle.

Beyond the general principles of law, the proper adjudication of these cases would also require a good understanding of industry practices. There is also the usual challenge of crowded dockets which leads to cases being prolonged, hence the need to adopt ADR to achieve win-win outcomes.”

The Director-General indicated that the NCC was poised to put in place an appropriate ADR framework to make it easier for parties to resolve disputes rather than rely on the traditional court system.

He said the Commission would fine-tune relevant policies to complement this and deepen stakeholders’ understanding of ADR as a viable solution to the challenge of delayed resolution of disputes in the entertainment field.

He stressed that the use of the ADR mechanism, with its speedy and cost-effective procedure, would also boost investor confidence in the entertainment sector and ensure that the adjudicatory system does not become an albatross in the industry.

“As we grow all aspects of the industry, we have to also encourage stakeholders to embrace the ADR process either as a mandatory first step or as complementary measures in resolving disputes.

“If well managed, ADR would be a cheaper, more efficient route to resolving disputes so as to engender cordiality and the sustainable management of the fragile business ecosystem we find in the entertainment industry”, he added.

Commenting on the ADR process in the mediation and arbitration of entertainment disputes during the webinar, Mr. Oluwatobiloba Moody, the Head of WIPO Nigeria Office, commended the NCC for its commitment to the recently concluded Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NCC and WIPO on Alternative Dispute Resolution in the area of IP.

He said the huge contribution of the entertainment industry to the Nigerian economy was a pointer to the enormous potentials of the industry. “Getting it right from resolution of disputes can engender sustainable management of growth across the entire value chain to ensure viability of the industry”, he stated.

Speaking further on the relevance of the webinar to the policy direction of the Commission, the Director-General stated that the ADR mechanism would be incorporated into the governance process of Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) as part of the ongoing review of its regulations.

He said the measure would enable parties in CMO disputes to use the ADR mechanism more than ever before.

He assured participants that the Commission’s training arm, the Nigerian Copyright Academy (NCA) has been charged to provide tool kits for young lawyers to help them in handling copyright cases and for them to better appreciate the value of ADR.

In his vote of thanks, the Director of NCA, Mr. Mike Akpan, expressed the Commission’s gratitude to WIPO’s Arbitration and Mediation Centre, the IP Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Intellectual Property Lawyers Association of Nigeria (IPLAN) for their collaboration in facilitating the success of the webinar. Other speakers at the webinar included Mr. Leandro Troscano and Mr. Oscar Suarez of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.