Copyrights commission faces court action over levy

The Director-General, Nigeria Copyright Commission, Mr. Afam Ezekude, made this disclosure recently at a press conference on the achievements of the agency in Abuja.Reacting to the NCC plan, the President of CIPPON, Mr. Mohammed Lawal, at a press conference in Lagos, said that the two percent levy as proposed is counterproductive as it cannot eliminate […]

The Director-General, Nigeria Copyright Commission, Mr. Afam Ezekude, made this disclosure recently at a press conference on the achievements of the agency in Abuja.
Reacting to the NCC plan, the President of CIPPON, Mr. Mohammed Lawal, at a press conference in Lagos, said that the two percent levy as proposed is counterproductive as it cannot eliminate piracy in the country as claimed by NCC DG, rather it would encourage mass pirating of books and other printed materials.
According to him, the sector which is one of the highest employers of labour in the country is going through a difficult period and that the introduction of the levy would kill the sector as those who own printing presses would have no other option than to shut down their offices.
“What NCC should do as an agent of government to discourage piracy is introducing palliative measures such as increase in tax on the importation of foreign books and tax holidays for importation on all printing materials to encourage local printing of items in the country,” he added.
Lawal further stated that presently, the high cost of running a printing press in Nigeria has forced some printers to reduce their staff, coupled with the epileptic power supply experienced in all parts of the country.
The CIPPON president said NCC as a body has no right in the regulation of the activities of printers, adding that the only organisation that is recognised by law is the Chartered Institute of Professional Printers , which was established by the act of parliament 24 of 2007.
“When we heard of the planned imposition of two percent levy in 2013, we wrote to the DG of NCC seeking a meeting with them with a view to educating them on the dangers ahead.
“All attempt made were rebuffed by the heads of the commission. But a lady called to say that we should come to Abuja for a meeting, we demanded that it should be put into written form. As we speak we have not received any letter of invitation from the commission, rather what we saw is the publication in the papers that heads of the commission met with stakeholders and as a result of the meeting, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney General of the Federation approved the levy.
“We will do everything within our reach to stop the planned imposition. We will not only take them to court, but will  also drag them before the National Assembly to explain what the two percent levy is meant to achieve,” he added.
He however appealed to the federal government to set up a Printers Fund as a palliative and that the government should also encourage local printers by printing some of their jobs locally, rather than taking them abroad.