Longtime followers of this blog may recall when I shared the news that the Nigerian Copyright Commission had commenced a reform of its Copyright Act. That was three years ago. Today, the commission has a revised draft copyright bill that looks very appealing for all Nigerian creatives and also mirrors some of the provisions in the U.S. Copyright bill. The next step is to have you, the public (industry stakeholders, lawyers, and other interested parties), review and comment on the drafted bill. This is part of the rule making process.
Here is how to comment:
1. Visit reform.copyright.gov.ng to submit your comments via the online platform or
2. Send a hardcopy of your comment to:
NIGERIAN COPYRIGHT COMMISSION
Federal Secretariat Complex,
Phase I, Annex II, Ground Floor,
Shehu Shagari Way, Maitama District,
P. M. B. 406 Garki, Abuja (F.C.T)
Nigeria.3. DEADLINE: January 5, 2016
Cheers,
-Ms. Uduak
Statement of the Director General
We commenced the process of the reforms of the Copyright System with a formal launch of the Project in November 2012. Since the launch, a number of activities have been undertaken by the Commission, through the Expert Working Group (EWG) of the Reforms, to ensure delivery on the target objectives of the reforms, including; comparative analysis and case studies of similar national reform efforts; stakeholders’ consultations; collation of commentaries; and analysis of stakeholder feed backs.
The highpoint of the implementation of the reform project was the empanelling of a Technical Working Group (TWG) of both officials of NCC and representatives of relevant Intellectual Property Law Groups, with the responsibility for producing a Draft Copyright Bill in line with the cardinal objective of the reform. After several brainstorming sessions, the TWG has submitted a draft Copyright Bill, which is my pleasure to present to our stakeholders and members of the public for comments and inputs.
I encourage all our stakeholders, interested members of the public and especially other agencies of government, whose mandates touches on the regulation of the creative sector, to study the draft Copyright Bill and avail us of their constructive comments. All comments will be given thorough considerations and where germane, reflected in the final Draft Bill.
On behalf of the management and staff of the Commission, I wish to thank all who have in one way or the other, supported us in this very important project. we continue to count on your support in moving to the next stage of the project, and hopefully, ensuring that Nigeria in the very near future, has in place a modern copyright legislation that will reflect current global trends.
Afam Ezekude
Director General
Nigerian Copyright Commisison