Introduction
The public domain is the silent engine of creativity and knowledge, yet it remains one of the least discussed aspects of copyright and intellectual property law. It refers to works, such as books, music, films, artworks, and more, that are no longer protected by copyright or never qualified for it in the first place. Once in the public domain, these works may be used, shared, or reproduced without the need for permission, licence, or payment. The value of the public domain lies in its ability to fuel education, inspire innovation, and preserve cultural heritage.1 By allowing free access to knowledge and creative expression, it becomes a resource for teachers, researchers, artists, and entrepreneurs alike. However, in Nigeria, this crucial element of copyright law is often overlooked. Many are unaware of what works can be freely used, leading to missed opportunities in education, cultural preservation, and the creative economy. The digital age further amplifies these challenges. With the internet enabling the borderless sharing of works, clarity around what belongs to the public domain is more essential than ever. Unlike other jurisdictions, Nigeria lacks a centralised, publicly accessible database of public domain works and offers no clear rules for handling "orphan works", creations whose rights holders cannot be identified or located.
This article therefore seeks to examine the Nigerian public domain and highlight the urgent need to unlock its potential. To achieve this, deliberate steps must be taken—better organisation, improved access, and forward-looking regulation. Doing so will not only serve the public interest but also strengthen Nigeria's cultural and creative industries in a rapidly evolving global landscape.
Legal Framework of Public Domain in Nigeria
In Nigeria, works enter the public domain when the term of copyright expires, when they are ineligible for protection under the Copyright Act,2 or when the author has waived their rights. The Act provides that most works, including books, music, and films, pass into the public domain seventy years after the end of the year of the author's death.3 Other categories of works have shorter durations of protection. Audiovisual works, photographs, sound recordings, and broadcasts are protected for fifty years from the end of the year in which they were first made available to the public with the author's consent, or created, whichever occurs first.4 Commissioned or corporate works are also protected for fifty years from their first public availability or creation.5 Thereafter, they enter the public domain and may be used freely, without permission or royalties. For example, the works of a musician who died in 1950 entered the public domain in January 2021. Special rules apply to anonymous and pseudonymous works: copyright endures for seventy years from the year of first publication or creation, unless the author's identity becomes known within that period. Once disclosed, the standard term of seventy years post mortem auctoris applies.6 For works of joint authorship, the term runs from the death of the last surviving author.7
Importantly, the expiration of copyright only affects economic rights. The author's moral rights8, such as the right to be credited and to object to distortion, remain intact even in the public domain. Although the Copyright Act is silent on their duration, it is generally accepted that moral rights subsist in perpetuity.
Beyond expiry, some works and uses are excluded from protection or permitted under statutory exceptions.9 Section 20 of the Act allows "fair dealing" for purposes such as private use, parody and satire, non-commercial research, criticism or review, and reporting current events, provided proper acknowledgement is given.10 Additional provisions enable libraries, archives, public institutions, and persons with disabilities to make non-commercial uses of works in the public interest.11 While not technically public domain, these exceptions function similarly by enabling socially valuable uses without infringing copyright. Notably, the Act voids any contractual term that seeks to override these exceptions, thereby safeguarding users' rights.12 Copyright protection also does not extend to judicial and legislative proceedings, or to "news of the day," ensuring free reproduction13 of such materials in the interest of transparency and public accountability.
A key challenge in Nigeria is the absence of a centralised registry or database of works that have entered the public domain. This gap creates practical uncertainty for educators, researchers, cultural institutions, and digital platforms seeking to reuse or digitise older works. The National Library of Nigeria, through its legal deposit requirements under the National Library Act,14 preserves published material as part of national heritage, but it does not serve as an authoritative register for determining the copyright status of works. Consequently, users often cannot easily confirm when a work has fallen into the public domain.
By contrast, jurisdictions such as the United States, through the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office, and the European Union, through initiatives like Europeana, maintain structured, accessible databases identifying public domain materials. These systems enhance legal certainty, encourage lawful access, and promote creative reuse. Nigeria's lack of a comparable mechanism continues to pose operational hurdles for teachers, scholars, museums, and others who might benefit from repurposing or digitising older works.
Key Challenges and Gaps in Nigeria's Public Domain Regime
While Nigeria's Copyright Act recognises that works eventually expire and enter the public domain, several gaps prevent the concept from working effectively in practice. These gaps affect access to knowledge, cultural heritage, education, and innovation.
A major problem is the uncertainty around older works, especially those created before independence in 1960. With no national archive or registry to confirm what is in the public domain, early Nigerian literature, music, newspapers, and films remain locked away. Researchers and educators often avoid reuse for fear of infringement.15 NGOs and nonprofits have tried to fill this gap by digitising materials for education, but the effort remains limited. Another gap concerns orphan works, those whose authors cannot be traced. Nigerian law provides no framework for their lawful use, leaving libraries, broadcasters, and digital repositories unable to digitise or conserve them without risk.16 By contrast, the European Union has adopted directives allowing restricted use of such works while protecting potential owners.17
The status of government works is another grey area. Although official texts such as laws, regulations, and court judgments are excluded from copyright, Section 7 of the Act grants copyright to government-created works for fifty years. This contradicts the widespread belief that government materials automatically belong in the public domain. With no public record clarifying what is protected, works like public speeches, reports, and government-funded research remain underused, limiting civic education and innovation.18
There is also little public effort to promote the visibility or reuse of public domain works. Few institutional incentives exist for digitisation or open access platforms, leaving lawyers, creators, and the public unclear about what qualifies. Finally, moral rights—the author's right to be acknowledged and to object to distortions—survive after economic rights lapse. But their scope once copyright expires is undefined, creating hesitation around use even for educational or critical purposes. Nigeria urgently needs clear policies, archives, and public tools to identify, preserve, and promote works in the public domain. Without these, the law's promise of free access remains largely unrealised.19
Can a Work in Public Domain Be Reclaimed?
Under Nigeria's Copyright Act, there is no mechanism for reactivating or reclaiming copyright once it has expired. When protection lapses, the work enters the public domain permanently, subject only to the author's continuing moral rights. By contrast, some jurisdictions have at times, retroactively extended copyright terms, effectively delaying or reversing the entry of works into the public domain. A notable example is the United States Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which prolonged existing copyright terms and postponed the release of many works into the public domain.20
Conclusion and Recommendation
The public domain is an essential element of the copyright system, ensuring that certain works remain freely available to the public. It fuels innovation and creativity, particularly for teachers, researchers, artists, and entrepreneurs who rely on unrestricted access to knowledge and cultural materials. Yet, Nigeria's public domain framework remains underdeveloped, limiting its potential benefits. Comparative experience shows what is possible. In the United States, safeguards exist to prevent the "re-privatisation" of works through fresh copyright claims once they have entered the public domain.21 The European Union (EU) has invested heavily in digitisation and dissemination, notably through the Europeana platform, which provides free access to vast collections of cultural heritage.22 South Africa, through its Copyright Amendment Bill, has sought to clarify the rules on fair use and promote open licensing as a means of wider access.23
Nigeria can draw valuable lessons from these models. First, there is a need for a publicly accessible online repository of works in the public domain, enabling Nigerians to know with certainty what they can freely use. Second, legislation should offer clear guidance on the treatment of "orphan works", materials whose rights holders cannot be identified. Finally, the Nigerian Copyright Commission should actively promote open licensing initiatives, such as Creative Commons, allowing authors to grant permissions for public use even before the expiry of copyright protection. Taken together, these measures would strengthen Nigeria's creative economy, broaden access to cultural resources, and align the country's copyright regime with global best practice. Like the EU, the AfCFTA can also invest in a continent-wide repository under its Protocol on Intellectual Property Rights.
Footnotes
1. F.O. Majekolagbe, "Public Domain and Access to Knowledge." (2024) 31 J. Intell. Prop. L., 1.
2. Copyright Act, 2022 which repealed and replaced the Copyright Act 1988. The date of creation of the work will determine which of the two laws is applicability to determine eligibility.
3. Copyrights Act 2022, section 19(1)(a).
4. Ibid, section 19(1)(c)-(e).
5. Ibid, sections 7, 19(1)(b).
6. Ibid, section 19(2)
7. Ibid, section 19(3)
8. Ibid, sections 14 and 66
9. Ibid, section 20
10.Ibid, section 20(1)
11.Ibid, section 20(1)(j), (k), (m)(n)
12.Ibid, section 20(3)
13.Ibid, section 20(1)(h), (i)
14. National Library Act, Cap N56, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004
15. A. Asein, Nigerian Copyright Law and Practice (2nd edn, Books & Gavel 2022).
16. P. Ugwu and I.C. Ogbodo, "Status of Orphan Works under the Nigerian Copyright Legal Regime" (2020) 3 (1) RUN Law Journal 161 – 173.
17. Directive 2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works [2012] OJ L299/5.
18. D.O. Oriakhogba, "State and Intergovernmental Organisations: Copyright, Public Domain, and the Public Interest in Africa" (2023) 27 Law, Democracy and Development 516–538.
19. Note 13.
20. L. Lessig, Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity (Penguin 2004) 6.
21. P. Samuelson, "Mapping the Digital Public Domain: Threats and Opportunities" (2003) 66 Law and Contemporary Problems 147.
22. L. Guibault, "Evaluating Directive 2012/28/EU on Orphan Works – Are the Diligent Search Requirements Enough?" (2010) 3 Journal of Intellectual Property, Information Technology and Electronic Commerce Law 143.
23. J. de Beer, "Implementing the WIPO Development Agenda: Time to Move Beyond the 'Development Agenda'" (2019) 57 Canadian Business Law Journal 411.
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