Advocacy for Open Access in Nigeria
Remember our ongoing Public Domain Advocacy program? On November 26th, 2024, we had a physical advocacy event with the theme ‘Public Domain and Historical Knowledge’. The event was organized by Free Knowledge Africa in collaboration with the FCT Branch of the National Library of Nigeria. It was held at the National Library of Nigeria, FCT Branch.
The event was attended by professionals in various fields, spanning librarians, legal practitioners, historians, researchers, corp members, and even students.
It was an engaging and interactive session. We discussed the Public Domain in Nigeria, keeping historical knowledge and making it openly accessible to the public.
The event began with an Introductory address by our host Mrs Oye, the Head of the Branch, National Library of Nigeria, FCT Branch.
Creative Commons, Public Domain and Digitization
We commenced the first session, which was conducted by Olubusola Afolabi, the GLAM Associate at Free Knowledge Africa. She delved into Nigeria’s historical knowledge and the gap Free Knowledge Africa had found in the documentation of our history. We were then introduced to Creative Commons and she gave a rundown of the CC licenses. She explained the conditions attached to each license and how they can be properly used. Her session was concluded by explaining the Public Domain, how works enter the public domain, including collective works, and the role of librarians and historians in preserving works in the Public Domain through digitization efforts.
After Olubusola’s session, we had a short break which was used as a Question and Answer. The time was also used as a networking session between all the participants.
Freedom of Panorama, Copyright, and the Librarian
Àlàáfíàbámí Ọládipúpọ̀, the Co-founder and Director of Education and Research at Free Knowledge Africa then proceeded to commence his session. His session was centered on Freedom of Panorama in Nigeria, and the 2022 Nigerian Copyright Act.
He began with an introduction to the concept of Freedom of Panorama, stating the limitations to Freedom of Panorama in Nigeria brought about by the signing of the 2022 Nigerian Copyright Act. He then engaged the participants about the exceptions for GLAMs and how they can take advantage of these exceptions.
There were a lot of suggestions and opinions from the participants on various strategies GLAMs can help improve the documentation of Nigeria’s history. Àlàáfíàbámí’s session ended with a call to action for librarians, historians, and cultural heritage professionals. This call was to join the Open movement and Free Knowledge Africa’s drive for documenting and digitizing all the works in the Nigerian Public Domain.
It was an exciting, engaging, and educative event and a lot of the participants indicated interest in joining the Open community in Nigeria. Some of the suggestions and conclusions we made during the event were:
- Nigerians should familiarise themselves with knowledge of copyright and intellectual property law.
- Copyright and intellectual property subject topics should be added to the curriculum in lower institutions or levels of learning.
- Lawmakers should be contacted on amendment of the new copyright act to improve access to information and cultural heritage while respecting the rights of copyright owners.
- We have to ensure that we protect each other’s intellectual property while we are doing that and ensure that we preserve our cultural heritage too.
The event ended, and the participants went home with a burden to contribute to the documentation of Nigeria’s cultural history.
You can check out the slides presentation, and view the complete photo album
