Nollywood actress and filmmaker Bimbo Ademoye has expressed frustration following a copyright notice from YouTube on one of her films, which has made it unprofitable for the video.
The actress went on Instagram to denounce a person for taking credit for a musical song which was being played in her film. She also declared a ₦1 million bailout to anyone that could help in the identification and location of the person behind the claim.
Ademoye says the song was written just for her by Nigerian artist Progress, and she claims to have the copyright to it.
The copyright that was captured in the screenshots posted on Instagram reads a song named We Can Take It (My 30th Wedding), which is attributed to Mazi Enemuo. The notice also revealed that the impacted video would not qualify for revenue.
The actress responded to the matter in a disgruntled tone, saying that it was an attempt to reap profits from the hard work of another.
I am sick and tired of this. I have 1 MILLION NAIRA FOR ANYONE WHO CAN LOCATE THESE PEOPLE FOR ME I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I GET THEM.
Ademoye said she had worked hard, spent lots of money and dedicated a great deal of her time to making the movie and that was the “biggest annoyance” for her.
She also claimed that the person behind the claim uploaded the song about three weeks ago before controlling the rights to the sound she used in her production.
The actress’ fans encouraged her to flag the video, and she heralded the platforms YouTube and YouTube Africa to steps in to rectify what she says is an unfair copyright claim.
She also has received comments from fans about the issues faced by filmmakers in distributing their films digitally.
The occurrence underscores the escalating worry regarding copyright issues on YouTube, especially for Nigerian filmmakers who rely on the site to distribute their movies and earn income.
Bimbo Ademoye claims she owns the song, but that hasn’t been settled independently and the name of the person who reported to own the song has not been confirmed.
The situation is a reminder to Nollywood producers to safeguard the original content and deal with copyright issues fairly.
Nollywood Life will be keeping an eye on the ongoing development of the Copyright dispute.
