105 restrictive provisions made in this wise by the English, Indian and the U.S. Acts be deleted through immediate amendment along the line of the Nigerian Act. Thus, these rights will be enforced whether asserted or not; or whether the work is published in a newspaper, periodical or any article.
106 benefits accruing therefrom by way of remuneration or by sharing in the proceeds of the sale of such works. The Nigerian Act agrees with this principle when it provides that: 417
notwithstanding any assignment or sale of the original work, the author of graphic works, three dimensional works and manuscripts shall have an inalienable right to share in the proceeds of any sale of that work or manuscript by public auction or through a dealer whatever the method used by the latter to carry out the operation.
The works contemplated by this section are some artistic and literary works sold by way of auction or sold through a dealer. Furthermore, the right to share in the proceeds of sale exists in relation to original works only.418 This right is not available to authors of architectural works or works of applied art.419 The right is conferred on the author or where the author is not alive, the heir to the author or his successor-in-title.420 Most importantly, the conditions for the exercise of this right shall be determined by regulations to be made by the Nigerian Copyright Commission.421 This means that if the Nigerian Copyright Commission fails to make any such regulations contemplated by the Act, the right of the author to share in the proceeds of the sale of his work will be kept in abeyance.
It is observed that while the Nigerian Act guarantees the right of authors to share in the proceeds of sale which is not mentioned by the other Acts under consideration, it does not expressly mention the author‟s right to remuneration as obtained in the English Act. The latter Act expressly provides that an author who has transferred his rental right concerning sound recording or film to a producer still retains the right to equitable remuneration for the rental.422 Thus, the right to share in the proceeds of sale as contained in the Nigerian Act is synonymous with the right to remuneration provided by the English Act. However, it cannot be said that the English Act contains a comprehensive provision for the protection of the
417 C.R.A.N. Section 12 (1).
418 Ibid. Section 13 (2).
419 Ibid. Subsection (4).
420Ibid. Subsection (5).
421 Ibid. Subsection (1).
422 C.D.P.A. Section 93A & 93B.
107 authors‟ right to remuneration as under the Nigeria Act. It is therefore suggested that the Acts be urgently amended to allow authors enjoy this right in all protectable works.
It is noted that even though the Acts of India and United States contain no express provision regarding the protection of authors‟ right to share in the proceeds of sale/right to remuneration, it is implied in the Acts that these rights are duly protected. This is because the Acts contain provisions for the payment of royalties to authors from the proceeds generated from the sale of their works.423 This position is further buttressed by the fact that Copyrights Societies operate in the jurisdictions under consideration with the purposes of securing economic benefits accruing to authors, as well as enforcing authors‟ rights to remuneration.
It is submitted that the failure of the Indian and United States Copyright Acts to expressly provide for the authors‟ right to remuneration is a grave omission which is capable of leading to confusion and obscurity. It is further submitted that the trusting of the right to economic reward of authors into the hands of the Nigerian Copyrights Commission which is less active and which dispenses its duties with lukewarm attitude, is tantamount to compromising the main aim of Copyright which is the creation of works through the enjoyment of the economic benefits flowing from their works. Again, even though the right to share in the proceeds of sale is a laudable one, the Nigerian Act confers this right only on creators of some named artistic and literary works, thereby excluding authors of musical, broadcasting, and other forms of literary and artistic works not mentioned in the relevant section under consideration, from the enjoyment of this right. It is further submitted that this omission is an injustice aimed at discouraging creation. It is therefore suggested that the Nigerian Act be amended to make the right to share in the proceeds of sale available to authors of protected works under the Act and to make the right to be automatic upon sale without having recourse to any
423 U.S.C. Section 801; C.D.P.A. Sections 93A & 93C.
108 regulations made or to be made by the Nigerian Copyright Commission. It further suggested that the other Acts under consideration be amended in accordance with this suggestion.