IP TALK SERIES
About the Webinar In every industry, the ‘new normal’ has become the new dispensation or vocabulary. Evidently, it has brought a lot of uncertainties, and consequently, across sectors, the rethinking of new norms, new business models including more innovative ways of thriving, thereby creating the disruption which is generally understood as the ‘new normal’ in everyday realities. This is no less challenging for the creative industries and the protection they enjoy under existing copyright law. With the impact of COVID-19 (C19) on global industries, there has been serious concern about the prospects of the Nigerian creative industry as a rapidly developing sector of the economy and its global position in recent years. In contributing to the ongoing debates on the impact of C19 on the creative industry, the webinar, organized by L & A Legal Consultants, seeks to address a whole lot of issues raised against navigating this new normal and the way forward for this important sector especially in the area of music and film. The webinar assembles a rich blend of panelists from the industry, academics, regulatory, IP practice and policy both in Nigeria and outside. The discussion will generate different perspectives on recent developments including important transnational lessons especially from the US’ entertainment and copyright environment.
The webinar is not intended as a debate as such but a discussion of conceptual and practical IP issues from different perspectives around the creative industries in the ongoing disruption and possibly beyond. The webinar aims to explore shared experiences and insights on the state and future of the creative industry in an engaging, relaxed manner, albeit with a conversational flavour to make a Saturday morning interesting and refreshing for participants. A report of the proceeding will be available and widely disseminated.
PROFILES
Oyinkansola “Foza” Fawehinmi is a visionary entertainment business Leader with a solid legal background and impactful years of practical experience spanning the entertainment and media law, management and transactional expertise. She is known for adding significant value by leveraging a combination of legal proficiency, industry knowledge and business acumen to influence key stakeholders. She is a founding partner at Technolawgical Partners a boutique entertainment law firm based in Lagos. She has worked with individuals and companies as such spanning Sarz, Timaya, GoodGirl LA, Boomplay Music, Music Time!, ColdPlay, Warner music, Teni the entertainer and many other upcoming artists and creatives. She currently serves as the President of Digital Music Commerce and Exchange Limited a pan African IP valuation, catalog management and administration company based in Lagos with branches in Ghana, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.
Steve Gukas is an award-winning Film Producer/Director and development consultant, whose films have enjoyed artistic and commercial success around the world. Some of his titles include; Namibia The Struggle for Liberation – 2007, A Place In The Stars – 2014, 93Days – 2016 and most recently Living In Bondage: Breaking Free. Steve is also is mentor to a number of filmmakers in Nigeria. Steve is the managing Director of Natives Filmworks Limited, a production company with offices in Nigeria and the U.K.
Wale Davies is an experienced entertainment executive whose career has spanned diverse roles as a performing artiste, talent manager, and a video and film director. Wale was born in London but raised in Lagos. He has lived in different European countries studying and working in the financial sector and returned to Lagos in 2008 to pursue a career in music. Wale is one half of Show Dem Camp (SDC), a music collective with an alternative brand of hip-hop, that has amassed an unprecedented cult following with key role in the development of both the hip-hop and alternative music scenes in Nigeria. Wale has worked in various capacities with a wide range of talents including Boj, Ladipoe, Funbi, Temi Dollface, Tomi Thomas and Tems amongst others. He has produced several regional and international media projects and worked extensively with brands as diverse as Visa, Netflix, Kenzo, Emirates Airlines, BBC, Farfetch, Carhatt and Art X Lagos. Wale developed the Palmwine Music Festival in 2017, an annual event designed to promote alternative African music, which has garnered over 10, 000 visitors in just 3 years. He is also the Founder of Fatherland Media, a 360-entertainment and media company that incorporates a record label and a full-service production company. Wale previously worked in Finance for blue-chip companies such as Cisco Systems BV, Lloyds TSB and American Express.
John Asein is currently the Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission. He is one of the best trained copyright administrators and experts in Nigeria having served in the Commission for several years prior to his appointment. He has represented Nigeria at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) at various times and served as expert in WIPO Inter-Governmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folkore. He obtained his LL. B from the University of Calabar and two Masters degrees from the Universities of Lagos and New Hampshire respectively. He was adjunct Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Abuja. He is author of several published works including two books, Nigerian Copyright Law and Practice and Nigerian Legal System.
Aurelia Shultz is Counsel in the Office of Policy & International Affairs at the U.S. Copyright Office, DC, where she handles, among other regions, the subSaharan Africa portfolio. She obtained her law degree from Vanderbilt University. Prior to the Copyright Office, Schultz worked in private practice and in-house at Creative Commons where she served as the first Africa Regional Coordinator. She has travelled widely in Africa. She enjoyed the good fortune of working with some of Nigeria’s top copyright experts during a semester at the Nigerian Copyright Commission in 2008.
Kike Aluko is a member of the Entertainment & Media Practice in the Greenberg Traurig LLP (GT) Atlanta office. Kike obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Minor in Music, Science and Technology at Stanford University. She later proceeded to obtain her JD/MBA from Harvard University. Prior to starting at GT, she spent time working with Spotify, Creative Artists Agency (CAA), Pandora Media and recently at the Nigerian Copyright Commission. Before starting graduate school, she worked for six years in the non-profit sector, where she focused on supporting and empowering marginalized communities in health education and professional career development.
Ayoyemi Lawal-Arowolo is Professor at the School of Law & Security Studies, Babcock University. Yemi has lived and studied across three Continents. She obtained her Bachelors in law degree at the Lagos State University (LASU) and was called to the bar in 1998. After practicing law briefly, she proceeded to the United States where she obtained her LL.M at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and Ph. D at Kent University of Canterbury, United Kingdom. She is one of the pioneer staff at the Nigerian Copyright Institute, the research and training arm of Nigerian Copyright Commission while an adjunct lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Nasarawa State University. She has several years of teaching, research and consulting experience with focus on intellectual property rights and knowledge systems in developing and African countries. She has written in peer-review journals and her recent works have been published in the European Intellectual Property Review and Queen Mary Journal of Intellectual Property, among others. She has recently served as Kent Law School fellow. She is partner and head, legal research at L & A Legal Consultants.
Olatunde Laoye is Managing Partner L & A Legal Consultants. He is a consummate solicitor and expert negotiator at the transactional end of practice. He has extensive experience in corporate and commercial practice, intellectual property, media and entertainment, real estate, banking and financial services, project/venture capital, financing and maritime law and practice. He was Special Adviser to Director General/Chief Executive of Nigerian Maritime and Safety Agency (NIMASA). He has previously worked in the financial services sector and still serves as Director and on the Board of companies with diverse business portfolio. He has negotiated and served as solicitor in major acquisitions, restructuring and venture arrangements in the capital market, private companies and licensing in the media and entertainment industry. He is a quiet achiever and has worked behind closed doors in many developments in the entertainment and media industry.
Adebambo Adewopo Of Counsel, L & A Legal Consultants. He is Professor of intellectual property at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the first IP academic admitted to the Inner bar. Prior to taking the IP Chair at NIALS, he served as Director General of Nigerian Copyright Commission. He is widely published and practices extensively in the field.
