Reps propose 10 year jail term for copyright abuse

Members of the House of Representatives during the Tuesday plenary endorsed the proposed 10 years jail term for pirates over abuse of the Copyright Act, 2004.

The proposed amendments include upward review of various penalties stipulated to the Copyright Act, 2004, scaled through second reading as sponsored by Bede Eke.

Some of the proposed sections to be amended include: Section 20 to 29 of the Principal Act with the view to provide for stiffer sanctions for those involved in pirating and illegal reproduction of creative works and intellectual property.

Other lawmakers who spoke in favour of the bill including: Abubakar Chika, Shehu Garba, Mohammed Monguno frowned at the level of illicit activities of the pirates across the country.

In his lead debate, Eke stressed the need for the amendment of Section 20(1) of the principal Act to increase from five years to a 10 year jail term or a fine of N100,000 from N1,000, for anyone convicted of reproducing for sale, hire and business, copies of a work of which copyright subsist.

Likewise, he called for amendment of Section 21(1) of the principal Act to prescribe N1 million fine or 10 years in jail term against N500,000 fine or five year jail term, for any individual who usurps the role of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) by prescribing design or mark as anti-piracy to a work which copyright subsists.

He noted that millions of naira is lost to pirates on monthly basis, with copyright owners struggling to recoup investments on works they also spent a lot of time creating.

Eke further observed that with the creative industry contributing N1.8 trillion to country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2008 alone, despite the challenges of operating in Nigeria’s entertainment sector, it was disappointing that piracy has remained a plague to those in the creative industry.

“Though Nigeria is signatory to various international conventions on copyright protection, these conventions are hardly enforced owing to the fact that they have not been domesticated.

“In Nigeria of today, it is difficult for an artiste that recoup investment on artistic or creative work because of the activities of pirates,” Eke said.

On his part, Abubakar Chika described the piracy of artists works as outright stealing. Chika, who used the music industry an example, said there are more pirated CDs in circulation, than there are the genuine copies from record labels.

Chika who called for the bills to be passed, saying it would lead to many youths in the creative industry benefiting fully from the works they toiled to create.

On his part, Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno) said with Nigeria leading the entertainment industry in Africa and Nollywood as well as  its Hausa counterpart, Kannywood earning critics respect, works from both industries must be protected with strong laws.

Also speaking, Shehu Garba said with government pushing for a knowledge based economy, the intellectual property of young people in the ICT and show business must be protected by laws that are up to date.

While ruling on the bill, Speaker Yakubu Dogara referred to the Committee on Justice for further legislative action.

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja