Seeing the video of Mr Amaechi Muonagor seeking financial aid days after Mr John Okafor (Ibu) also asked for financial help to clear his medical bills, I felt bad. It doesn’t just make sense that a person who has been acting since the 80s and has featured in hundreds of movies with fame spread across the world, cannot afford basic medical bills. This is saddening as it tells a lot about how meagrely Nollywood producers and movie makers pay these actors.
Truth be told, we can largely attribute the low earnings of these actors to piracy because to be fair, most producers are struggling as well because of praters who are stealing from them. Before cinema movies and online streaming platforms like Netflix etc became popular in Nigeria, Movie producers and actors barely made a dime from their movies due to piracies hence why it appears that after decades of acting some of these actors barely have savings to swing from in time of emergencies.
But piracy cannot be solely responsible for actors being broke after decades of putting in hard work. The lack of knowledge of intellectual property rights and their protection in the Nigerian creative industry is also a contributor. Most of these old actors have no idea that there is another form of earning called royalties which they are entitled to in every movie they were featured in and the royalties accrue to them even to their descendants after their lifetime.
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Most Nigerian entertainers do not know that they have the legal right to make demands from persons or brands who use their faces, names, memes or slogans, especially for marketing or promotional purposes. When you are an entertainer or a celebrity, your intellectual property is a goldmine and there is no limit to what you can earn from it.
As an actor, especially as the lead actor, you should insist on signing a joint ownership agreement of your intellectual properties in the movie with the producer, you should even insist that your intellectual properties in the movie reverts fully to you after some years of the release of the movie.
I remember Josh2funny telling me that after he popularized the slogan “All My Guys All Ballers” some big brand used it for adverts without paying him a dime; at that point he had no idea that he ought to be paid because that slogan could be ascribed as his intellectual property and anybody who uses it without his consent can be sued for infringement or better still, passing off.
“Na Dem dey rush us” by Charles Inojie spread like wildfire and is still trending to date. Brands used that mantra for marketing and promotion of their products but I know for a fact that Mr Charles Inojie didn’t earn a dime from it, maybe because he is not aware that he is entitled in law to lay claims on it as his intellectual property or he was not just interested.
Mantras like “Nna anyi sacrifice” which can be ascribed to Mr Kanayo O Kanayo, “Na Dem Dey Rush us” by Charle Inojie, “You are doing Well/Fantabulous” by Mr Macaroni, “Shey You won Collect” by OGB recent, “Something Hooge” by Sabinus and the most recent one which is currently my favorite, “Ah greet you bros” by Wizdom247 comedian can be a money fetcher to these entertainers that it can be ascribed to even after they retire because once a mark or a slogan can be ascribed to you and you take the further step to trademark such mark or slogan, it legally becomes your property and you are to make money off it.
Entertainers on the other hand need to arm themselves with Intellectual property lawyers like myself or arm themselves with a management that understands and appreciates Intellectual property rights and its protection because the intellectual properties of a popular person can be a money generating fountain if well-guarded.
