NCC Urges Lawyers to Upgrade Knowledge on Copyright

Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), has advised lawyers to upgrade their knowledge of copyright laws arguing that recent court decisions have betrayed the low level of copyright knowledge among the

Mr. Afam Ezekude, director-general of the Commission disclosed this in Abuja during a training the Institute organised on Copyright Law and Practice for lawyers and advised more lawyers to upgrade their knowledge of the subject in order to be able to take advantage of the huge potentials in the Nigerian creative industries.

Ezekude said that through its training arm, the Nigerian Copyright Institute (NCI), NCC has affirmed its commitment to building an informed corps of intellectual property experts to guarantee better service delivery particularly in the copyright sector.

Speaking at the two-day training the director-general, who was represented by Mr. John Asein, director, NCI, stated that the Commission has also begun to compile a database of intellectual property experts in the country with a view to making them more accessible to copyright owners.>

The director-general also drew the attention of participants to the ongoing reform in the copyright sector and invited them to participate actively in the consultative process.

Vincent A. Oyefeso, assistant director, Public Affairs in a statement quoted the DG expressing appreciation to Mr. Desmond U.M. Yamah, Abuja Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association and its Chairman, for the support that the Institute received towards the training.

He reassured the Chairman of the Abuja Branch and through him the national body, that the Commission would continue to partner with the Bar in the discharge of its statutory mandate.

He called on other state branches to emulate the gesture of the Unity Bar and support the wide dissemination of intellectual property knowledge among members of their branches.

The participants, comprising 13 legal practitioners drawn from the private sector and the National Human Rights Commission, unanimously applauded the initiative of the Commission and underscored the need for the Commission not only to organise more IP training programmes but to collaborate actively with lawyers in boosting IP awareness and the usage of experts in the copyright industries.

They decried the insufficient attention to written contracts and proper rights management particularly in the music and film industries and called on the Commission to promote the active participation of more legal practitioners in those areas.

Participants also suggested that the training, which they found very informative and revealing, should be extended to the bench. They urged the Commission to intensify its copyright awareness campaign in all tiers of schools to inculcate copyright knowledge and the culture of respect for creativity.

The Director, NCI lectured on the broad themes: "An Overview of the Nigerian Copyright Law"; "Forensic Examination of Recent Copyright Decisions in Nigeria"; and "International Protection of Copyright and Related Rights".