Nigeria's Anti-Piracy Drive Yields Results

• Author: Afam Ezekude
• Position: Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission
• Pages: 18-21

p. 18 2012 | 3

N IGE R I A’ S

anti-piracy drive yields

results By Afam Ezekude,

Director General,

Nigerian Copyright Commission

Nigeria is ho me to a rich and dyn amic creative se ctor. Star among the se

is Nollywo od, the world’s third larg est lm industry wi th annual revenue in

the region o f US$ 200 to 300 mill ion. Nigeria’s creative in dustries, however,

stretch fa r beyond the lm ind ustry, and inclu de activiti es ranging from

music and publishing, to computer software and media broadcasting – each

with enormous potential for growth. Preliminary data indicate that while

Nigeria’s copyright-based industries contribute as much as 1.2 trillion naira

(US$ 7.5 billion) eac h year to the Nigerian eco nomy, they have the potentia l

to contribu te between 5 and 10 perce nt annually. If we are to fu lly realize the

potential o f our creative indus tries and if Nigeria ns are to reap the mult iple

benets th is promises, we nee d to create an environ ment in which the ri ghts

of creators a re respected – an environ ment with zero toleranc e for piracy.

THE FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES OF PIRACY

In spite of this enormous growth potentia l, widespread piracy is undermining the g rowth

of Nigeria’s creative sector. Right owners who have invested enormous en ergy, time

and money in producing sound recordings, lms, books and computer programs

suffer huge losse s in revenue. As a consequence, creators of genu ine copyright-

protected products are discourage d from setting up their operations in the co untry.

The government loses mu ch-needed tax revenue to fund publ ic services, and the

country as a whole los es out on its ability to attract foreign direct investment, and to

harness opportunities for technology transfer.

CAUSES OF PIRACY

The causes and motives for pir acy are many and varied. In Nigeria, its preval ence is

attributable to a number of signicant contributory factors – the scarcity and high

cost of genuine products, pover ty, poor distribution networks, a slow judicial system,

poor cooperation in some q uarters of the creative sector and inade quate funding

of regulatory agencies, including the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC). These

enduring problems are further compounded by the challenges posed by new digital

technologies which, themselves, create opportunity for illegal mass reproduction of

copyright-protected works.

ZERO TOLERANCE

Given the economic importance and growth potential of Nigeria’s copyright sector

and in light of the far-reaching negative eco nomic impacts of piracy, the Nigerian

government has adopted a policy of zero tole rance with regard to piracy. It falls to

the NCC, the country’s top regulatory and enforce ment agency for copyright, to put

this policy into practice.

Efcient enforceme nt of copyright is a critical element in e nabling the future devel-

opment of Nigeria’s creative industries. Since its e stablishment in 1989, following

implementation of Copyrig ht Decree No. 47 of 1988, the NCC has worked tirelessly

to clamp down on piracy. Campaigns such as the S trategic Action Plan against Piracy