Section 30 Copyright Act
Section 30 Copyright Act 2022 is about Assignment and licence. It is under Part III (Ownership, Transfers and Licences) of the Act.
(1) For the purpose of Chapter 4 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, copyright shall be deemed to be movable property and shall be transferable by way of assignment, testamentary disposition or operation of law.
(2) An assignment or testamentary disposition of copyright may be limited to only some of the acts, which the owner of the copyright has the exclusive right to control or to a part only of the period of the copyright, or to a specified country or other geographical area.
(3) An assignment of copyright or an exclusive licence to do an act, the doing of which is controlled by copyright, shall have no effect unless it is in writing.
(4) A non-exclusive licence to do an act, the doing of which is controlled by copyright, may be written, oral, or inferred from conduct of the owner of copyright.
(5) An assignment or licence granted by one copyright owner, shall have effect as if granted by his co-owner and subject to any agreement between them, any fee received shall be divided equitably among the co-owners.
(6) For the purposes of this section, persons shall be deemed to be coowners, if they —
(a) share joint interest in the whole or any part of a copyright ; or
(b) have interests in the copyright in various works comprised in a production of two or more works.
(7) Ownership of a material in which a work is embodied shall not confer ownership of copyright in the work.
(8) Except as may otherwise be provided for in an agreement, an owner of copyright who transfers the ownership of the material in which the work is embodied, shall not be deemed to have transferred his copyright or to have granted a licence for the exploitation of the work.
(9) Except as may otherwise be provided for in an agreement, an owner of copyright who transfers his copyright or grants a licence for the exploitation of a work shall not be deemed to have transferred the ownership of the material in which the work is embodied.
(10) An assignment, licence or testamentary disposition, may be granted or made in respect of a future work or an existing work in which copyright does not subsist, provided that it shall not be permitted to transfer the rights in all future works of an author.
(11) A testamentary disposition of a material on which a work is first written or recorded shall, in the absence of any indication to the contrary, be presumed to include any copyright or prospective copyright in the work, which is vested in the deceased.
