Omoni Oboli Pulls Down Film On YouTube Channel Over Copyright Infringement Concerns

Veteran actress and filmmaker Omoni Oboli has taken down a film she initially uploaded on her YouTube channel Omoni Oboli TV after discovering the story was similar to that of another YouTube-based production. It is alleged that the said script has been sold to more than one filmmaker by the same scriptwriter, under the guise of different titles.

In a social media post, Omoni Oboli revealed the reasons for deleting the uploaded film and pointed out the measures that her team had taken to address the situation. According to her, “As a channel committed to originality, we’ve decided to remove the film while we investigate the situation. We’ve engaged the scriptwriter to understand exactly what happened and are working closely with our legal team to resolve this.”

This development raises concerns over intellectual property and copyright infringement in the Nigerian film industry. As the concerned filmmaker seeks to erase the dent and get to the roots of the situation, the scandal also leads to questions around the authenticity and possibilities for regulation of Nollywood storytelling culture on YouTube.

Omoni Oboli faced a similar scandal for her film Okafor’s Law in 2016 after she was accused of intellectual theft by filmmaker Jude Idada who claimed that to have written part of the script without due credits and remuneration.

With the new development, it remains to be seen how regulatory bodies in the country, such as the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), will react to forestall recurrences of this nature. The NCC is a body responsible for the enforcement of copyright laws for the protection of the creative industry in the country. Central to the body’s affairs is the Copyright Act 2022 whose scope covers all forms of electronic media comprising sound and visual components, such as films, TV programmes, slide-tape presentations, web streaming, video conferencing and live broadcast services.