By Olu Victor
A Nigerian, Nicholas Opara, is reportedly said to be claiming ownership of Nollywood, a generic name for the Nigerian motion picture industry.
Report say Mr. Opara has registered Nollywood as his franchise in the United States and Canada, and anyone who must use the term in those territories would need to do so for a fee or face the wrath of the law.
It was notable Nigerian literary guru, Sola Osofisan who first raised the alarm, calling on other colleagues to join in wrestling this hijacker. “I found out a few days ago that the name Nollywood has just been trade-marked by an individual called Nicholas Opara,” Osofisan, a multiple award-winning writer, screenwriter and film director said in a random e-mail message to filmmakers.
Osofisan said he foresee danger should the issue not be taken seriously. “I am no lawyer,” he said, “but from what I can glean from those pages, this individual has been granted an all encompassing ownership of the word NOLLYWOOD,” he warned.
Explaining the implication of Opara’s claim, Osofisan said, “… anyone – including filmmakers and actors in Nigeria – coming to the US to commercially identify with this emerging industry has to license the usage of the term “Nollywood” from Nicholas Opara. This is a very dangerous development and something must be done quickly to have this “ownership” revoked.
“I’m not sure how “Hollywood” or “Bollywood” is currently structured, but the name Nollywood must be protected in such a way that it is available for any practitioner to identify with without the danger of legal bottlenecks. That sounds like common sense to me, though a lawyer may see it differently. Mildred Okwo who is not copied on this email because I can’t find a valid email address for her since we lost touch is probably a good person to discuss this sort of issue with locally.”
“A quick look at his claims of ownership: You can’t own/trademark something you did not create/invent. Best of my knowledge, the term NOLLYWOOD precedes late 2002, his purported time of “first use” of the word. I believe it was a TIME Magazine article that introduced the term and merely producing this can nullify his claims and lead to its revocation”.
‘Yesterday, I sent a text to this effect to all the kind folks who identify with Nollywood here in the US, including Tony Abulu and some marketers. The Guild of marketers here, as I have been informed by a member, is going to look seriously into this matter. I thought Nigeria shouldn’t be in the dark and that is what prompts this email. I will defer of course to a lawyer versed in US trademark and copyright issues,” Osofisan said.
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