Repatriation of ancient Benin bronzes to Nigeria: reflection on copyright and related issues

Abstract

The 1897 invasion of Benin traditional empire by British soldiers led to the looting of ancient Benin bronzes. These have been at the centre of conversation around the repatriation of stolen African cultural heritage from Europe and America for a long time.1 There have been efforts in the past by the Nigerian government and the Benin Royal Palace to get stolen artefacts back from the UK.2 Recent global calls on colonial overloads for the return of looted artefacts from their previous colonial territories and for the atonement of colonial atrocities, which included the stealing of indigenous art,3 goaded the Nigerian government to reopen talks with foreign governments for repatriation of the looted bronzes. The awakened international consultations for the return of the looted ancient Benin bronzes forming part of the holdings of museums in Germany and the UK stirred schism among the governments of Edo State (sub-national), the Nigerian Federation and the Benin Royal Palace led by the Oba of Benin (the Oba Palace is located at the centre of Benin City, Edo State [Province], Nigeria). The schism was about who would control the ancient Benin bronzes upon their return. While the schism has been settled, as discussed in Section 3, the local ‘warring’ parties did not avert their minds to questions around who owns, would manage and benefit from the copyright relating to the ancient Benin bronzes. Nonetheless, the copyright and related issues have been identified as issues to be negotiated at the international consultation for the repatriation of the bronzes. Discussion of the copyright and related issues is important when viewed against the backdrop of the large-scale digitization project of the ancient Benin bronzes embarked upon by museums in Germany, for instance, in preparation for the repatriation of the bronzes. Viewed broadly, the discussion would serve to give useful insights into the copyright-related issues concerning other large-scale digitizations of cultural heritage, such as the Timbuktu Manuscripts recently digitized by Google Arts and Culture.4