Get tougher on pirates
Piracy has gained currency in this country. It has become the norm, judging by how it is done brazenly, as we are faced with pirated books, musical CDs, films and other intellectual property on our streets. The inauguration of the Anti-Piracy Committee by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to tackle piracy […]
Piracy has gained currency in this country. It has become the norm, judging by how it is done brazenly, as we are faced with pirated books, musical CDs, films and other intellectual property on our streets. The inauguration of the Anti-Piracy Committee by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed to tackle piracy of creative works, therefore, gives hope.
Members of the committee include the Director General, National Film and Videos Censors Board, Adedayo Thomas; The Chairman of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Tony Okoroji; Deputies Inspector General of Police in Charge of Criminal Investigation Department, Hyacinth Maidugu and that of Operations Joshak Habila; President, Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) Abdullahi Maikano Usman; Ms Tundun Aderibigbe of the House of Tara and Tony Princewell, a movie producer.
The minister urged the committee to devise a pragmatic approach that would ensure regular and sustained enforcement with a view to putting an end to the menace of piracy. He said if piracy was not tamed now, it would become a monster that would destroy the creative industry. There have been raids on markets and confiscations of pirated materials over the years, but they have not halted piracy.
In the 2017 first and second quarter report by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), the commission confiscated N1bn worth of pirated goods. According to the report, a total of 1,289,344 units of suspected pirated literary, musical, software and broadcast gadgets valued at N1,216,531, 600 belonging to different copyrights holders has been confiscated by the NCC within January and June, 2017. On many occasions, suspected pirates have been arrested.
We commend the inauguration of this committee which is long overdue, as those in the creative industry have been robbed blind, where their materials are pirated and sold at cheaper prices, while their original copies are not being sold. While they suffer, pirates smile to the bank, raking in millions of naira on what they did not create.
In the Nigerian Copyright Act , cap 28 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, it says on anti-piracy measures : (1) The commission shall have powers, with the consent of the minister, to prescribe any design, label, mark, impression or any other anti-piracy device for use on, or in connection with any work in which copyright subsists. (2) Any person who (a) sells, rents, hires or (b) offers for sale, rent or hire, any work in contravention of the prescription made pursuant to subsection (1) of this section commits an offence and is liable to conviction to a fine not exceeding N100,000 or imprisonment for term not exceeding 12 months or both such fine and imprisonment.
Apparently the punitive measures are not harsh enough because for someone making millions, paying a fine of N100,000 would not be a problem to him, and the jail term may hardly be enforced. The government should review the laws and strengthen it. Government needs stringent laws to smash the copyright syndicate. The piracy syndicate includes law enforcement agents and other stakeholders who undercut the authorities, aid and abet criminals to escape justice because they benefit from the crime.
To deal with the menace of book piracy, government should revive the moribund paper mills in the country so as to bring down the prices of papers used in printing books. Pirates go outside the country where paper is cheaper to purchase their materials. They, therefore, provide cheaper alternatives to original copies upon which intellectual sweat has been invested by authors. Also, the prices of books are high because of the high cost of energy to power printing machines. Government should work on improving power supply so as to bring down the cost of producing books. There has to be a multi-dimensional approach in order to kill piracy.