A spiring lawyers and guests gathered at the Afe Babalola Auditorium of the University of Lagos last Thursday, September 25, 2014, to discuss LAW AND ENTERTAINMENT. The aim was to avail the young ones with an understanding of law and specialisation, with specific regard to the entertainment industry, and the opportunities it holds for legal practitioners.
The event, organised by the Justice Kayode Eso Students’ Chambers of the faculty of Law, University of Lagos, was the 8th annual lecture of the chambers.
Addressing the audience at the event, Adefunke Adeyeye, general manager, corporate services/company secretary, Silverbird Group, spoke about the importance of media and entertainment industry, noting that in recent times the industry in Nigeria had displayed enormous potentials, attracting both domestic and foreign investments.
She said: “The entertainment industry has been growing in leaps and bounds. Since its establishment in 2003, Nollywood has risen to number three position (behind India’s Bollywood) in the global film markets, in terms of volume of production.”
She further explained that the increased recognition of the importance of creativity in its different dimensions, as key drivers of socio-economic development cannot be over emphasised, more so in the entertainment industry.
Adeyeye urged participants, made up mostly of law students and invited guests, to take advantage of the opportunities in the Nigerian Film industry, which according to her, was currently reputed to be the third biggest movie industry in the world and had witnessed phenomenal growth in recent times.
“Developments have spurned the need for well-informed and specialised legal services to handle complicated matters, which cut across financing, distribution, production, etc. Lawyers now represent broadcasters, studios, independent producers, financiers, distributors and individual talent across the film and TV industry; from the inception of a project through its development/production, to its ultimate distribution,” the SBG company secretary informed the young audience.
Nigeria’s film industry, said to be the third largest in the world, trailing behind Hollywood and Bollywood produces about 50 movies per week. Current estimates put its annual revenue at an impressive value of $590 million
The event was a gathering of other notable practitioners who contributed largely to the discourse. Folarin Falana spoke on the topic, ‘Combining Entertainment With The Legal Education, advising the students to excel in both academics and whatever path they eventually settle to do. Intellectual property lawyer and head of Counterfeiting at Jackson Etti & Edu, Obafemi Aalso touched on ‘Entertainment Law And Intellectual Property Law.
At the end of the event, Justice Kayode Eso Students’ Chambers also launched the second edition of its annual publication – a magazine, and the first of its kind among chambers within the faculty. Free copies were made available to all participants.
Certificates were given to past [2012/2013] and present ExCos of the chambers by Dr. Abiola Sanni, alongside the president of the Law Society, Adetayo Tolulope. The cap of the event was a two-segment of raffle draws in which participants got free movie tickets to the Silverbird Cinemas, free Law dinner tickets, among several other giveaways.
