MEDIA Rights Agenda (MRA) has called for a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s intellectual property (IP) laws, describing the current framework as fragmented, outdated, and restrictive to creativity, innovation, and freedom of expression.
The organisation made the call in a statement on Sunday, April 26, to commemorate the 2026 World Intellectual Property Day, observed annually on April 26 under the auspices of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The statement, signed by MRA’s Programme Officer, Ayomide Eweje, said Nigeria urgently needed a “modern, efficient, rights-respecting, and development-oriented” intellectual property protection system.
It said existing framework discouraged creativity and investment while limiting access to knowledge, innovation, and free expression.
MRA noted that this year’s World Intellectual Property Day offered an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on how intellectual property laws could foster creativity and innovation without undermining the public’s right to access knowledge and information.
It said the country’s IP laws should be modernised and consolidated to address emerging realities, including digital assets, online use, artificial intelligence-generated works, and ownership rights.
The organisation suggested that outdated laws would create uncertainty for innovators, investors, and content creators.
It stressed the need for stronger public interest safeguards, including expanded exceptions for education, research, libraries, archives, journalism, and public interest reporting.
Besides, it said without such protections, intellectual property laws could become barriers to education, investigative journalism, and civic participation.
MRA further called for clarity on the relationship between IP laws and Nigeria’s Freedom of Information Act, 2011, warning that public institutions sometimes misuse copyright and confidentiality claims to deny legitimate access to public-interest information.
On digital content regulation, MRA urged policymakers to clearly define the responsibilities of online platforms in handling copyrighted materials and to establish balanced notice-and-takedown systems that protect against arbitrary or abusive content removal.
“in the absence of such clarity, poorly designed systems can lead to censorship or unchecked infringement.”
It also advocated open licensing for government-funded research, stronger open data policies, and public repositories for research and educational materials.
According to the organisation, journalists and media professionals often face legal and practical uncertainties when using copyrighted materials for investigative and accountability reporting. It urged policymakers to protect the rights of media practitioners acting in the public interest.
“As digital technologies continue to transform the creation, distribution, and consumption of content, there is an urgent need for inclusive and forward-looking policies that recognise the realities of the digital age. Intellectual property protection must not become a tool for restricting legitimate access to information or suppressing public discourse.”
