Traditional Knowledge Laws: Niger

Subject Matter of Protection

Article 54 - Definitions

(1) "Folklore" means any productions created within the national territory by national ethnic communities, handed down from generation to generation, and constituting one of the fundamental elements of the traditional cultural heritage of a nation.
(2) "Expressions of folklore" means any productions consisting of characteristic elements of the traditional artistic heritage developed and maintained by a community or by individuals reflecting the traditional artistic expectations of such a community, in particular:
- verbal expressions, such as folk tales, folk poetry and riddles;
- musical expressions, such as folk songs and instrumental music;
- expressions by actions, such as folk dances, plays and artistic forms of rituals;
- tangible expressions, such as:
      (a) productions of folk art, in particular, drawings, paintings, carvings, sculptures, pottery, terracotta, mosaic, woodwork, metalware, jewelry, basket weaving, needlework, textiles, carpets, costumes;
      (b) musical instruments;
      (c) architectural forms.

Article 5 - Subject matter of protection: Derived works and collections

(1) The following shall also be protected as works:
      (i) translations, adaptations, arrangements and other transformations of
      (ii) works and expressions of folklore;
      (iii) collections of works, expressions of folklore or of simple facts or data, such as encyclopedias, anthologies and databases which, owing to the selection and arrangement of their contents, are original.
(2) Protection of the works referred to in paragraph (1) shall not affect the protection of pre-existing works used in the making of such works.

Scope of Protection

Article 56 - Utilization subject to authorization

Subject to the provisions of Article 58, the following utilizations of the expressions of folklore shall be subject to authorization by the Copyright Office of Niger when they are made both with gainful intent and outside their traditional or customary context:
(1) any publication, reproduction and any distribution of copies of expressions of folklore;
(2) any public recitation or performance, any transmission by wireless means or by wire, and any other form of communication to the public, of expressions of folklore.

Article 59 - Acknowledgement of source

(1) In all printed publications, and in connection with any communications to the public, of any identifiable expression of folklore, its source shall be indicated in an appropriate manner, by mentioning the community and/or geographic
place from where the expression utilized has been derived.

Exceptions and Limitations

Article 58 - Exceptions

(1) The provisions of Article 56 shall not apply in the following cases:
      (i) utilization for purposes of education;
      (ii) utilization by way of illustration in the original work of an author or authors, provided that the extent of such utilization is compatible with fair practice;
      (iii) borrowing of expressions of folklore for creating an original work of an author or authors;
(2) The provisions of Article 56 shall not apply also where the utilization of the expressions of folklore is incidental.
Incidental utilization shall include, in particular:
      (i) utilization of any expression of folklore that can be seen or heard in the course of a current event for the purposes of reporting on that event by means of photography, broadcasting, or sound or visual recording, provided that the extent of such utilization is justified by the informatory purpose;
      (ii) utilization of objects containing the expressions of folklore which are permanently located in a place where they can be viewed by the public, if the utilization consists in including their image in a photograph, a film or television broadcast.