Digital piracy undermining our hard work, filmmakers lament

By : Sodiq Omolaoye

Date: 15 December 2025 1:34pm WAT

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Digital Piracy

Digital Piracy

Filmmakers and creative industry stakeholders have renewed calls for urgent government intervention to curb digital piracy in the country, saying it is a decades-long menace that continues to drain revenue, discourage investment, and threaten the sustainability of Nigeria’s film industry.

They spoke in Abuja during an interview session at the screening of The Book of Nehemiah, an Afrobeat musical film produced by AfroNerd Media.

The professionals warned that unchecked online piracy has become more devastating than the era of compact discs (CDs) and DVDs.

Speaking, award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer, Paul Apel Papel, said digital piracy has remained one of the most crippling challenges facing filmmakers.

He noted that his film Eagle Wings is currently being illegally distributed across multiple online platforms.

According to him, efforts to take down pirated copies have proved exhausting and largely ineffective, as illegal uploads reappear almost immediately after being removed.

He said, “Digital piracy is a major challenge, and we have been handicapped for many years. As I speak to you, my film is pirated. People show me links on their phones and different platforms where it is being streamed without authorisation.

“I signed up with a company in the United States and anytime I saw my film on YouTube, I blocked it. I kept blocking it until I got tired. Once a film is released on legitimate platforms like Amazon or Netflix, pirates somehow get clean copies and spread them everywhere. You can find the same film on 10 or 18 illegal sites,” he added.

According to him, the shift from physical piracy to online distribution has made enforcement more difficult, as perpetrators now operate anonymously from private homes, making tracing and prosecution almost impossible.

Papel urged the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to play a stronger role in tackling the problem, arguing that as the regulator of Nigeria’s telecommunications backbone, it has the capacity to block offending platforms and coordinate a more structured response.

“When it was DVD, you could trace the quality and sometimes even the source. But now people are watching on their phones in their houses. How do you track that? The internet is porous.

“If NCC can block certain sites or content, then they can also block pirated films. What we need is sensitisation and a clear reporting channel. If producers can report piracy directly and illegal platforms are blocked, it will go a long way,” he said.

The film producer also proposed a coordinated release framework where films are issued unique digital identifiers in collaboration with regulators, allowing unauthorised copies to be easily flagged and taken down.

Also speaking, a representative of AfroNerd Media, Ugboh Ujah, described The Book of Nehemiah as a powerful Nigerian story told from a local perspective.

He, however, warned that piracy continues to undermine the enormous investments required to produce such films.

He said piracy has had a severe negative impact on the industry, discouraging creativity and limiting returns on investment, while calling for stricter laws and stiffer penalties to deter offenders

Ujah said, “One of the biggest issues in our industry is digital piracy. Producers spend millions of naira to bring stories to life, only for unscrupulous individuals to share them online for free and profit from other people’s sweat and hard work,”

“The government should impose strong laws with serious consequences, including jail terms. Intellectual property theft should be treated with the seriousness it deserves. People must be rewarded for their hard work,” he added.

Ujah stressed that despite the challenges, Nigerian creatives would continue to tell stories that inspire, educate and provide solutions to national problems.

“Movies and music are universal languages. They shape minds, inspire people, and can even help leaders think through complex challenges. This film is not anti-government; it is pro-solution. We are offering ideas that can help move the country forward,” he said.

President and co-executive producer at AfroNerd Media, Kenneth Okwu, said the movie was inspired by a desire to spark conversations around Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges, including insecurity, poverty, and brain drain.

“The movie is part of a broader conversation. It profiles problems, but it also suggests potential solutions. Beyond entertainment, it is meant to educate and stimulate dialogue,” Okwu said.

He described piracy as one of the most serious threats to the survival of the creative sector while lamenting that filmmakers who invest time, money, and energy often see their work freely circulated online shortly after release.

Okwu added that the production faced several regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles, including last-minute disruptions during approved shoots, which resulted in significant financial losses

“Piracy is crumbling the industry. People steal cars or phones and are punished, but pirates hide behind the internet and go scot-free. It is destroying livelihoods.

“The government needs to do better in supporting creatives. When approvals are given and suddenly revoked, millions are lost in rented equipment and logistics. That discourages serious filmmaking,” he said.

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