The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) says stronger enforcement of the Copyright Act 2022 is beginning to reduce piracy in Nigeria, particularly on digital platforms.
The Director-General of the NCC, Dr John Asein, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, saying the commission was working to establish the current level of piracy and measure the law’s impact on the creative industry.
Asein said although the commission did not yet have empirical data to attach a specific percentage to the decline, available evidence indicated that piracy had reduced.
He said the development was significant for Nigeria’s creative industry because piracy prevented creators from properly monetising their works and recovering investments.
According to him, widespread piracy also discourages investment in content creation and makes it harder to attract foreign partners to Nigeria’s creative sector.
Asein said the growing digitalisation of music, films and other creative works had made stronger copyright enforcement necessary because content could now be distributed across borders almost instantly.
He cited a recent case in which operators based in Asia registered a movie piracy platform with a Nigerian “.ng” domain.
The NCC shut down the Nigerian domain, forcing the operators to move the platform to the Philippines.
“This is what happens when you do not put the right guidelines in your country. Then you will have a free-for-all, where rogues will take over legitimate play,” he said.
Asein said Nigeria could not allow piracy to undermine its globally recognised film and music industries.
“We can’t afford to see the actual players going beggarly just because pirates are taking over,” he said.
The NCC boss said the commission was also using technology to identify and block websites and platforms distributing copyrighted material illegally.
He said the impact was becoming evident as users who previously obtained free music and films from illegal platforms increasingly complained about losing access to them.
“We have had some other sectors that have come to us and complained that where they used to get free music has been blocked,” Asein said.
He, however, called for stronger protection of copyrighted works as Nigerians increasingly consume films and music through mobile devices and online streaming platforms.
Asein also urged telecommunications companies, content creators and other stakeholders to establish and respect mechanisms that would protect intellectual property on emerging digital platforms.
He said an action plan expected from a stakeholders’ seminar could help drive further growth in Nigeria’s creative industry.
“It will be a wonderful gift to Nigeria to see that stakeholders are really committed to ensuring that the creative industry in Nigeria continues to prosper,” he said.
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