Media, Nigerian Copyright Law, And Big Tech

I loved reading James Hadley Chase; many novel lovers of my generation did. In Chase’s “The Way the Cookie Crumbles”, we are reminded that there is always a bill to pay—and sometimes, it is paid in blood. As publishers and journalists, we pay our bills. Newspaper publishers invest in us, and we—journalists and other workers—sweat our hearts out to hunt for news, make it readable, and present it for sale. We also expect advertising revenue as the “icing on the cake.”

However, in his 1965 novel, the character Ticky Edris—the mastermind behind a bold daylight bank robbery—teaches us a bitter, timeless lesson about the unpredictable nature of life. My favorite line from the book is: “You made plans; you played your cards right, then some slob spoils it all. It is the way the cookie crumbles.”

In the Nigerian media space, the cookies are crumbling. Publishers are playing their cards right, but “slobs” are spoiling it all. Big Tech firms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are fundamentally restructuring the newspaper industry, with many experts describing the impact as an existential threat to the traditional media business model.

This disruption occurs primarily through the erosion of advertising revenue, the theft of web traffic via AI summaries, and the uncompensated training of AI models on journalistic content. The fact is that Big Tech companies, particularly Google and Meta, have created an “existential crisis” for news publishers by controlling the digital advertising ecosystem, hijacking traffic through search and social media, and utilizing content for AI training without compensation.

This has led to a significant decline in revenue for traditional media. Big Tech captures over 60 percent of digital advertising revenue, while news organizations face, in some cases, 90 percent drops in traffic due to AI-generated summaries. This must end.

Nigerian copyright law, primarily governed by the Copyright Act 2022, protects newspapers as “literary works” by granting publishers exclusive rights to control the reproduction, distribution, and publication of their content. It safeguards against unauthorized digital sharing, photocopying, and syndication, with enforcement overseen by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).

To be sure, newspapers are considered literary works provided they are original and fixed in a definite medium. Publishers hold the sole right to reproduce, publish, perform, broadcast, or adapt their own content. For too long, the media has ignored these rights and operated as a wholly public good. This is a mistake.

In the age of Big Tech and AI “dictatorship,” the 2022 Act addresses digital infringement by providing “safe harbor” provisions that require online service providers to remove unauthorized content. I have always argued that there is no “free lunch.” A free-market economy is about buying and selling. It is economic robbery to use superior technology to appropriate what another business has invested in and assume you can go scot-free.

Yet, this is exactly what Big Tech and AI firms are doing to traditional newspapers. Newspaper publishers have the right to be identified and to protect the integrity of their works. Having done extensive work on this, it is painful to see the sub-Saharan African media industry appearing to not only accept this robbery but also defend it as a “technological imperative.”

Truth be told, the unauthorized use of a “substantial part” of a newspaper is considered an infringement, allowing for legal action, damages, and injunctions. Interestingly, the law is on the side of the creator. The NCC has expanded powers for the administration, regulation, and enforcement of copyright. While copyright is typically vested in the author, if a work is created by an employee, it vests in the employer. Generally, this protection lasts for 70 years after the end of the year in which the author dies. The only exceptions involve “fair dealing,” such as research, private use, criticism, or news reporting.

But why are we not acting? If the Copyright Act 2022 serves as the primary legal framework protecting newspapers as “collective works,” why are Big Tech and AI companies allowed to trample on them? Under standard employment terms, the newspaper proprietor is the first owner of the copyright for any work created by an employee for publication. Protection is automatic upon the creation of the work and its fixation in a medium (printed or online). While formal registration with the NCC is not required, it provides a legal advantage in court.

This is the time to act. I am pained because media industries elsewhere are extracting their “pound of flesh” from Big Tech for these infringements, yet Nigeria is being left behind. I am pained because the Nigerian media appears comfortable with the crumbs falling from the tables of Google, Facebook, and TikTok. Sadly, the Nigerian press is suffering in silence.

When I joined PUNCH in 1990, our indomitable Chairman, Chief Ajibola Ogunshola, promised that the newspaper would benchmark its salaries not against banks, but against the oil and gas industry. Circulation was galloping, advertising revenue was stupendous, and our watchdog role was solid. Publishers and journalists were a happy lot. But Big Tech, and now AI, came and spoiled it all.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission must do its job effectively. In South Africa, the Competition Commission instituted a comprehensive inquiry into Big Tech’s impact, putting the South African media back on its feet.

The NCC must not succumb to the Big Tech “innovation imperialism.” This is about copyright law, intellectual property, and fair business practices. Newspapers are not chsrity clubs.

– Adediran, the NPAN GM/CEO, writes via [email protected]