THE inventor of a machine, the author of a book or composer of music usually owns his work, from which ownership certain consequences flow. We are not expected to simply buy or copy his work without giving due consideration to the rights to which he may lay claim over it.In a more practical term, if a lady spends much time and eventually comes up with a song which she titles 'The land is green' or 'ijoba Orun'; or a young man sings a song which begins with the word 'Ara nbe e e e'' or Timi Dakolo's latest song, another may feel he would rather produce or direct an opera he may call 'super story' or 'David's fall.' Yet one chooses to write a book and tittles it 'The Trial of Brother Jero.'Every time we buy these products it is expected that the money or at least a reasonable part of it goes to the owners as recompense for the time, money, efforts and thoughts they have invested in their works. They should be entitled to the reward of their labour. That is the only way they can be encouraged to do better.The question that comes to mind would be is it really the case in our beloved country Nigeria that artistes are rewarded' The answer is no. And one wonders: Is it so difficult to deal with piracy or we simply don't have the will to tackle the monster' Every time, artistes complain that their works are pirated and marketed openly and brazenly. No one has been able to come to their rescue. I am persuaded that if the authorities muster the moral and political will piracy can, of certainty, be dealt with adequately, leaving everyone happy' the authors, producers and marketers.It is pertinent at this point to have a clear understanding of what we are dealing with: The concept of Intellectual Property (IP) Law.Intellectual Property Law broadly means the legal rights which result from intellectual activities in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields. Most civilized countries of the world, including Nigeria, have enacted laws to regulate and protect intellectual property for two main reasons. One is to give statutory expression to the moral and economic rights of products of the mind and regulate the rights of the public in the access of those works of the mind. The second is to promote creativity and its dissemination which would thus contribute to economic and social development.The law currently regulating copyright in Nigeria is the Copyright Act CAP C28 Laws of the Federation 2004. In my view, the Copyright Act is in dire need of attention in order to capture the unfolding 21st Century aspect of IP. I have in mind the kind of attention the Evidence Act has received. As the law stands today, if a person prevents an inspector of the Copy Right Commission from doing his job he will be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding N500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both. This is totally unacceptable. See S38 (4) of the said Act. The implication is that where a person has a store house with pirated goods worth billions of Naira all he needs do is to prevent the inspector from entry at an expected cost N500 and a willingness to stay away for three months on conviction if it ever happens, that is- especially as the country does not isolate convicts any longer to wallow in shame as it used to be in the days of yore.When you build a society that rewards diligence you indirectly tackle unrest. To a reasonable extent people feel a sense of job security if they know they can survive on their creativity.As in the words of John C Maxwell, 'Everything rises and falls on leadership.' Who would have thought a day would come in Lagos State when people would quietly queue up to board buses. Today with the BRT, disorderliness is fast becoming history. What remains is to have more of the buses ply all major and artery roads. Piracy, too, can become history.Another example is Section 20(2)(d)of the Copyright Act (supra) which provides as follows: 'Any person who has in his possession, let's for hire or distribution for the purpose of trade or business, or exposes or offers for sale or hire any copy of a work which if it had been made in Nigeria would be an infringing copy, is unless he proves to the satisfaction of the court that he did not know and had no reason to believe that any such copy was an infringing copy of any such work is guilty of an offence under this Act and liable on conviction to a fine of N100 for every copy dealt with in contravention of this section or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years or in case of an individual , to both such fines and imprisonment.''The truth remains that if we must deal with piracy then it is suggested that we put in place stiffer penalties.Although the Intellectual Property Day has come and gone for this year, celebrated all over the World on April 26 2012, I will like to urge Members of the National Assembly to review the copyright Act with a view to amending it to tighten all loose ends and empower the Director -General of the Commission so he can revamp the commission. Part of the revamping Process will be appointing active and self-driven inspectors, and, indeed, possibly set up a task force of Inspectors after which a well orchestrated stake holder's forum would be called.The owners of IP should set greater value on their works themselves. It is important that they get legal counsel and always lay a proper foundation. The system is capable of a positive change. Yes, it is.Macdonald Amaran is a young lawyer based in Calabar, Nigeria
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