DERIVATIVE WORKS: QUICK LINES

Disclaimer: The aim of this article is information and enlightenment; please consult a solicitor for individual professional advice.


DERIVATIVE WORKS: QUICK LINES

A while ago, we decided to reduce the sophisticated topics of entertainment and go back to the basics. As part of the basics, we're discussing an area that very few people avert their minds to: Derivative Works.

Without much ado, I'll give it to you very clearly, and very quickly. Here are basic things you should know about a derivative work.


1.) When an eligible work is created by a person, in Nigeria, that work automatically enjoys copyright protection once it's original and fixed on an expressive medium (if you're a consistent visitor on this blog, by now, this should be as clear to you as a nursery rhyme. I only say it on every other entry, after all).

2.) One of the exclusive rights protected by copyright is the right to make derivative works of the original work. As such, only the copyright owner (or anyone he/she authorises) may make works which are derived from their work.

3.) And to the question on your lips: what, really, is a derivative work? A work is a 'derivative' work if it derives its substance from another work which already exists. For instance, when you write a novel/story, and someone makes a movie or play out of that novel/story, the new one is a derivative work which is derived from the first work. Other examples are translating a story/book/script/ into another language, making a painting or a sculpture from an existing photograph, 'remixing' or 'sampling' a song with new instrumentation, etc.

The movie 'Things Fall Apart' is a derivative work of the novel 'Things Fall Apart' by Chinua Achebe. The movie 'O Le Ku' is a work derived from the novel 'O Le Ku' by Akinwunmi Ishola. If you were to stage a play on the drama 'The gods are not to blame' by Ola Rotimi, then that play would be a derivative work.

A derivative work is, thus, a new, original work that includes aspects of a pre-existing, already copyrighted work.

4.) Only a copyright owner can make or grant permission to someone else to make a derivative work based on the original work. If permission is not granted, the creator of the new work becomes liable for copyright infringement.

5.) For a derivative work to enjoy copyright protection, it must be different enough from the original so that it is considered a new piece of work. It must fulfil the requirement for originality.


I did say 'basic things'. If you want a lengthy discourse, you'll have to get in touch with an entertainment lawyer or practitioner. See ya next month.



Copyright 2011 Tinukemi Alabi
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