Your Content Is an Asset. Start Protecting It Like One
A few months ago, a creator on Selar reached out to us with a problem. Someone had bought her ebook. At first, that sounded like good news. Except they hadn’t bought it to read it. They bought it, uploaded it elsewhere, and started selling it as their own.
The creator had spent months researching, writing, editing, designing, and marketing that ebook. It wasn’t just a PDF. It was hundreds of hours of work.
Now someone else was profiting from it. Without permission. Without credit. Without paying her a single kobo.
Unfortunately, stories like this aren’t rare.
At Selar, we’ve seen creators deal with stolen courses, reposted videos, copied ebooks, pirated memberships, and unauthorized use of their content.
Sometimes it’s another creator. Sometimes it’s a business. Sometimes it’s people who genuinely don’t understand that what they’re doing is illegal.
And now, with AI making it easier than ever to copy, remix, and reproduce content, protecting your work is becoming one of the most important skills a creator can have.
The good news is many creators have more rights than they realize but they don’t know what those rights are.
Your Work Is Already Protected. You Just Don’t Know It.
In most countries, including Nigeria and many others around the world, copyright protection begins the moment original work is created and fixed in a tangible form.
The moment you create something original, whether it’s a video, a song, a written piece, a design, a course, or any digital content, you own it. You don’t have to file anything. You don’t have to put a copyright symbol on it. You don’t have to spend money to prove it’s yours.
A lot of creators don’t know that the videos they post on their feeds or stories belong to them legally. Not just in a “I made it” sense. In a “you can be sued for using this without permission” sense.
So if someone is using your content without permission, that’s not just annoying. It’s a legal violation, and you have grounds to act on it.
The Nigerian Copyright Act 2022 Covers What Happens Online
Nigeria’s intellectual property framework has kept up with the digital age, and most creators have no idea.
The Copyright Act 2022, sometimes called the Digital Act, was designed specifically to address what happens online. It covers:
- Unauthorized use of your content on digital platforms
- Streaming and sharing without permission
- Technological protection measures, like digital locks on your content
- What counts as a violation in online spaces and what is permitted
This matters because the internet is where most violations actually happen now. Taking someone’s post and passing it off as your own. Using a video without permission. Streaming content illegally. These are not grey areas. They are violations the law covers, and the law is current enough to cover them.
Register Your Work. It Changes How People Treat You.
Even though protection is automatic, registration adds a layer that makes a real difference, especially when you need to prove something in court or challenge someone who has used your work.
The NCC runs an e-registration system where creators can log their works. Think of it as a timestamp. A record that says: on this date, this work existed and it belonged to this person.
When creators register their works, it changes how people engage with them. Brands take them more seriously. The registered work carries weight that unregistered content simply doesn’t, especially in a dispute.
If you have not registered your content, start there. It is not expensive. It is not complicated. And it is one of the most practical things you can do to protect what you’re building.
How to Register Your Work with the NCC
You can register your creative works through the Nigerian Copyright Commission’s e-registration portal at www.copyright.gov.ng.
If you run into issues with the website, the NCC also has a WhatsApp line you can reach out through directly.
When you register, have these ready:
- A clear record of the original work (file, document, recording)
- Information about when it was created
- Your details as the creator or rights holder
Don’t wait until there’s a problem. Register your work now, while everything is clear and undisputed.
The NCC Has a Unit That Deals Specifically With Online Piracy
Because you’re reading this blog, you’ve joined the 1% of creators who know this unit exists before they actually need it. Most people find out the hard way.
The NCC runs a special enforcement unit called STOP, the Special Task Force Against Online Piracy. If someone is using your content without your permission online, this is the unit that can help you act on it. They can block platforms. They can step in. All you have to do is prove that the work belongs to you, which is exactly why registration matters.
This is not a slow bureaucratic process you have to navigate alone. If your work has been stolen or used without permission online, reach out to the NCC directly. They can also advise you on what steps to take even if you’re not sure you have a case.
What Happens When the Violation Crosses Borders?
This comes up a lot now that Nigerian creators are selling to, and being discovered by, audiences outside Nigeria.
If someone in another country uses your content without permission, yes, there are challenges. Different copyright laws, difficulty tracing where the infringement is coming from, jurisdictional gaps.
But it’s not a dead end.
Nigeria is a member of the Berne Convention, one of the most important international copyright agreements. Membership means that Nigerian creators’ works must be given the same legal protection in member countries as those countries give to their own creators.
The NCC also works with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which can help track and intercept international traffic exploiting Nigerian content.
If you are dealing with a cross-border infringement issue and don’t know how to proceed, go to the NCC first. They can point you toward the right international channels and, where possible, support your case directly.
Creators, Stop Giving Your Work Away Without Knowing It
Knowing your rights is one thing. What you sign away in a contract is another.
When you sign a contract with a brand, a few things need to be very clear before your pen touches paper:
- Time limits.
Not every piece of content should be owned by a brand forever. If you make a video for a company, how long can they use it? One year? Three years? Perpetually? There’s a real cost difference between each of those, and most creators never think to ask.
- Platform restrictions.
If you create content for Instagram, does the brand have the right to put it on a billboard? On a cinema screen? On Twitter? Specify exactly where your content can be used and charge accordingly if they want more. Content that shows up at IMAX when it was licensed for Instagram is a breach, and it’s a breach you can pursue if the contract is clear.
- AI use.
This one is new and increasingly important. Brands are now feeding creator content into AI tools to generate new content that looks like yours, without paying you for it. Your contract should include a clause that prevents a brand from using your content, your images, your likeness, or your creative output to generate AI content without your explicit permission and additional compensation.
The brand does not have the right to own everything you create for them. They can license what you create. They can rent access to it. But ownership is yours to decide what to do with, and a contract you sign without reading can quietly transfer that ownership without you ever realising it.
Have a lawyer review any significant contract before you sign. If that’s not possible right now, read it yourself carefully. Ownership clauses, usage rights, duration, platform specifications. What you agree to in writing will always matter more than what you assumed.
AI-Generated Content and Copyright: What’s the Current Position?
This is the question everyone is asking right now, and the honest answer is that it depends.
Copyright offices around the world, including in Nigeria, are still working through how to handle content generated with significant AI involvement. The core question is always whether the work is unique enough, and whether a human creative contribution can be clearly identified.
If you used AI as a tool to produce content, your ability to copyright the result will likely come down to how much original creative direction you provided and how different the output is from what already exists.
The creative space is evolving. If someone has used AI to replicate your content or style, or if you created something using AI and believe your rights are being infringed, consult an intellectual property lawyer. These are not cases to navigate alone.
Talent Is Not Enough
Talent gets you visibility. Ownership builds wealth.
There are musicians from the 1980s and 1990s whose music is still being used today. Some of them are earning from it. Some of them signed it away without understanding what they were agreeing to and have nothing to show for decades of work.
The Nigerian creator economy is growing fast. Creators are earning from courses, ebooks, digital products, brand partnerships, and licensing deals. But the ones building sustainable businesses are the ones who understand that what they create is an asset, not just content.
Ownership is something that outlasts your hottest moment. It outlasts your biggest audience. It can outlast you. The question is whether you’ll still have it when the time comes to benefit from it.
Protect your work accordingly.
Your Copyright Action List
- Register your work at www.copyright.gov.ng
- Keep records of when and how you created your content. Original files, notes, receipts, everything
- Read your contracts before signing. Look at ownership clauses, duration, platform rights, and AI use
- Get a lawyer to review significant brand deals, ambassadorship agreements, or licensing contracts
- Contact the NCC STOP unit if your content is being used without permission online
- Reach out to the NCC if you have a cross-border enforcement issue
The tools exist. The laws exist. The agencies exist to help you. The only thing missing, for most creators, is knowing that.
Now you know.
Want to Go Deeper?
This blog only scratches the surface of what was covered in a recent live conversation on copyright, intellectual property, and the business of creativity, featuring experts from the Nigerian Copyright Commission and intellectual property law.
Start Selling What You Own
Knowing your rights is step one. Monetizing what you create is step two.
Selar gives Nigerian creators the tools to sell digital products, courses, memberships, and more from one platform, without the technical headache. If today’s conversation has pushed you to take your creative business more seriously, this is where to start.
