International Placement and the Nigerian Mother Agency: A Legal Guide
The Nigerian modelling industry has never been more internationally connected. Models scouted in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and increasingly in other African cities are being placed with booking agencies in Paris, Milan, London, and New York at a pace that would have been difficult to anticipate even five years ago. Nigerian mother agencies are investing […]
The Mother Agency Agreement: What It Must Contain to Be Enforceable in Nigeria
There is a moment that arrives in the life of almost every Nigerian modelling agency when the director realises that the contract she has been using does not say what she thought it said. Sometimes this realisation arrives quietly, in a conversation with a model who is asking questions the contract cannot answer. Sometimes it […]
AI, Deepfakes and the Model: What Nigerian Agencies Need in Their Contracts Now
Consider the following scenario. A Nigerian model, represented by a mother agency, participates in a campaign shoot for a major fashion brand. The shoot is properly contracted. The usage rights are specified. The fee is agreed and paid. The campaign runs for the agreed period and then, under the terms of the booking contract, the […]
What Nigerian Modelling Agencies Need to Know About the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023
A modelling agency is, among other things, a data processing operation. Before a model ever walks into a studio or appears on a runway, the agency has collected their full name, date of birth, nationality, residential address, passport details, physical measurements, bank account information, and a substantial archive of photographic images. During the course of […]
Why Your Model Contract is Not Protecting You: Five Things Nigerian Modelling Agencies Get Wrong
By Bernice Ofunore Asein, Esq. | Managing Partner, Cardinal Counsel | Founder, Fashion Law Institute Africa There is a particular kind of optimism that characterises the early days of a modelling agency in Nigeria. The director has a vision. The models are talented. The international connections are being built, sometimes at significant personal cost. A […]
Cardinal Counsel’s Bernice Asein Speaks to BBC on Nigeria’s Fashion Industry Labour Crisis
Cardinal Counsel’s Managing Partner, Bernice Ofunre Asein, was featured in a BBC investigation into labour conditions across Nigeria’s fashion and modelling industry, published in November 2025, following that year’s Lagos Fashion Week. The BBC’s reporting examined a string of concerns raised by models and designers, including unpaid or delayed wages, contested agency fees, poor working […]
The Complete Guide to Design Rights: Protecting Your Creations in Nigeria
Intellectual Property In Nigeria, design rights are a key form of intellectual property (IP) protection for fashion designers, product creators, and innovators. Protecting your designs helps prevent copycats, preserves your brand’s reputation, and allows you to commercially exploit your creations. This guide provides a complete overview of design rights, including registration types, protection scope, enforcement, […]
Unregistered Design Rights in the Fashion Industry: What Nigerian Designers Need to Know
Intellectual Property In the fashion industry, originality and creativity are everything. But not every design can be formally registered under industrial design laws in Nigeria. This is where unregistered design rights (UDRs) come into play. UDRs provide automatic protection for certain aspects of a design, helping designers prevent copying and safeguard their work, even without […]
How Do Trade Mark Classes Work? A Guide for Nigerian Businesses
When registering a trade mark, understanding how trade mark classes work is crucial. The scope of protection offered by a trade mark is limited to the specific goods or services it covers. This limitation allows identical or similar marks to coexist on the register as long as they apply to different goods or services—a concept managed through trade mark classes.
Design Rights in Clothing: A Guide for Nigerian Fashion Brands
In Nigeria, the protection of fashion designs is an essential part of safeguarding your brand and creative output. Designers can protect their creations through Industrial Design Registration under the Nigerian Copyright Commission and Trademarks, Patents and Designs framework, as well as through copyright.