THE Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) is working on fresh strategies to address intellectual property infringements, according to its Director General, Mr. Afam Ezekude.In an interview with The Guardian recently, Ezekude contended that intellectual property fraud was capable of hindering creativity, with dangerous consequences for the country's economy.The director general, who expressed the desire to reduce the problem to the barest minimum, also revealed that the commission was getting set to mobilise resources and ideas to wage war against perpetrators of intellectual fraud.'Piracy is like a cankerworm to the nation's economy,' he affirmed. 'It is like a caterpillar that eats up the pillars of the economy. Intellectual property is not peculiar to Nigeria alone. Piracy is a global issue that needs to be addressed to ensure genuine innovation and development.'On the review of the present Intellectual Property Law (IPL), Ezekude explained that the commission had, among other things, recommended appropriate penalties for copyright offenders in its proposal currently before the National Assembly. He expressed optimism that by the time the proposals were infused, the IPL would be better off.He disclosed that out of the 26 criminal copyright cases instituted between January and February 2012, the commission had secured 18 convictions of the accused persons, with various levels of sentences handed down, in accordance with the Nigerian Copyright Act. The commission, he further revealed, had a total of 63 ongoing criminal and civil cases at various Federal High Court divisions nationwide.He said: 'The Nigerian Copyright Commission has arrested 145 suspected pirates and confiscated over 6,193,210 units of pirated copyright works, estimated at N1, 291,185,000.00 during numerous anti-piracy operations carried out across the country in the last 14 months.'Ezekude noted that the commission had stepped up the tempo of its anti-piracy operations, resulting in the seizures of the huge consignments of the infringing products such as books, films, sound recordings, softwares and illegal broadcast equipment.He continued: 'We will intensify efforts in bringing to book, all copyright infringers arrested, in order to underscore the need for respect of the rights of creators in Nigeria and to also demonstrate that Nigeria is no longer a safe haven for poachers of intellectual property rights.'The anti-piracy operations have continued with more vigour this year. Several anti-piracy operations have already been carried out since the beginning of the year, two among which were executed in the notorious Alaba Market in Lagos.'According to the director-general, 'the last of the raids in Alaba was carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, 13th March, 2012. The raid, which took place in two shopping plazas within the market, led to the arrest of six persons while they were carrying out illegal duplication of Compact Discs of various copyright works.'He warned that the commission would no longer condone the use of Alaba Market as a haven for piracy, adding that in the coming months, the commission would intensify surveillance activities to ensure that all illegal activities in the market were detected and apprehended.'This project will be a continuous one until we are able to sanitize the market and rid it of all piracy activities, be it in terms of production or distribution,' he vowed.The director-general also recalled that on January 25, this year, the commission carried out a public destruction of 722,000,000 units of pirated works and contrivances estimated at N6.5 billion.'These items were among those confiscated during anti-piracy raids carried out in the literary, broadcast and optical disc industries between 2007 and 2011,' he said. 'Apart from the need to demonstrate publicly our zero tolerance policy towards piracy, we also considered it important to dispose of such pirated materials in a manner that would ensure that they do not find their way into the channels of trade.'Ezekude also spoke on two anti-piracy convictions. He said: 'In charge number FHC/KD/8C/2012: NCC VS (names withheld), the Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna convicted the accused person on all the three counts for which he was charged. A sentence of six months imprisonment was pronounced on each of the counts; while a cumulative fine of N250, 000 was levied against the accused person. While the imprisonment term ran concurrently, the fine was cumulative. The accused had been charged for, among others, the offence of being in possession of and distributing for commercial purposes, infringing copyright works in CDs and VCDs.'Also, the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on 8th March, 2012 in Charge Number FHC/L/459C/2011: NCC VS (names withheld) convicted the accused person on a four count charge of copyright infringement and sentenced him to a term of imprisonment for six months on each of the counts, without an option of fine.'The importance of these cases lies in the sentences imposed by the courts. The judgments reflect the underlying objective of our enforcement drive, which is to render the business of piracy not only unprofitable, but their consequences sufficiently damning.'He assured that the commission was doing everything necessary to ensure that justice be done in all cases, to serve as a deterrence to prospective infringers.
Click here to read full news..
