Copyright Law and the Menace of Piracy in Nigeria

Abstract

The greatest resource and bedrock of every civilization is its creativity, innovation and invention. All these boost the economy of a nation. Creativity of a nation, Nigeria inclusive, is protected by the copyright Law. The goal of copyright protection is to encourage dissemination of information, provide employment and economic benefit to the owner, and reserve the ownership of the right in it to the creator of the work. But this right has been constantly bastardised and infringed upon by unauthorized acts of reproduction and distribution on a commercial scale, called piracy. Piracy is a menace that has negatively impacted on Nigerian economic, social and political wellbeing. Hence this paper examines the Nigerian copyright law in relation to the protection of literary, artistic and musical works, cinematograph film, sound recording and broadcast; the exclusive rights granted to copyright owners and its infringement; types and causes of piracy; the effects of piracy; and then made some recommendations for the eradication of piracy.

Keywords: copyright law, menace, piracy, infingement, Nigeria.