Private legal practitioners with bias for intellectual property protection have called on government to enforce Nigeria’s ‘intellectual property law to protect creative outputs of individuals.
The lawyers note that the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), was duty bound towards protecting intellectual property rights of citizens. “Copyright law guides and protects the intellectual property works of individuals from being reproduced by others,” said Kemi Ajayi.
She stated that the NCC should put in place a mechanism for proper enforcement of copyright laws. Ms. Ajayi noted that ‘literary and artistic works’ were major aspects of intellectual property constantly abused in Nigeria without any successful prosecution of culprits.
She admitted that intellectual property violation was a major challenge plaguing developing economies and said, unless effectively curbed it could become a leading setback for the country. “If a check is not placed on the infringement of intellectual property, there will be a major drawback on creativity and invention.”
George Ogbolu, another Lagos based Lawyer concurred, and added that informational technology application could curb the theft of intellectual properties in Nigeria. “When Nigeria attains a higher technological development, cases of copyright infringement would be reduced,” said Ogbolu.
He affirmed that the commission should be in the area of strengthening copyright laws in the country. “Protection of intellectual properties would enable the owners to derive maximum benefits from the products of their creativity.”
Joshua Ibeka, another lawyer averred that strict penalties should be put in place to curb copyright infringement in the country by the NCC. The lawyer stated that Nigerians literary works were frequently plagiarized with the “individuals going scot-free, while the authors wallow in penury.”
Ibeka went a step further that his other legal colleagues, calling for the establishment of a new body to be responsible for intellectual properties. He said such ‘Intellectual Property Commission could bring the copyright system under a single authority and make enforcement of copyright laws more effective.”
Ajayi regretted that “in Nigeria, people’s works are replicated without caution.”