Piracy: NCC raids bookshops, printing houses in Ibadan

Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has sealed some printing houses and seized numerous pirated books from bookshops across Ibadan.

The commission, led by its Director-General (DG), Dr John Asein, represented by the NCC Coordinator, Oyo State, Mrs Oluropo Oke, raided Apata, Mokola, and Dugbe areas of Ibadan on Tuesday.

Asein urged the owners of creative properties to familiarise themselves with their rights as provided by the Copyright Act and to lead the fight against piracy and other forms of copyright infringement.

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He stated that the inspection was part of the commission’s commitment to strengthen the copyright sector and support the fight against piracy.

This, he said, was to ensure that creators and investors reap adequate benefits from their creativity and investment, respectively.

He said some sealed printing houses and raided bookshops in Ibadan lacked proper records of creative works received from authors or publishers.

Such acts, he explained, would impede the war against book piracy in Nigeria.

According to the DG, Section 48 of the Copyright Act stipulates the duties of printers, booksellers, and other stakeholders in the business of creative properties.

He said the act stipulates that they keep adequate records of all creative works they receive for reproduction or sales.

This, he said, would enable NCC to track the actual source of each creative work adequately.

“It will also assist in discovering if the real owner is aware of the reproduction of the intellectual property or not,” he said.

Asein said this would enable the owner to secure maximum benefits from the sales and distribution of such property.

“The constitution stipulates that publishers, printers, producers, manufacturers, and aggregators of works, in which copyright subsists, shall keep a record of all works dealt with in the course of their business.

“The record must show the name of the author, title of work, date of use or production, the quantity of the work used or produced, and any other information as may be prescribed by the commission.

“Any person who fails to keep the required record, as stipulated by the law, or makes a false entry in the record, or deliberately tenders false entry as evidence to the commission, commits an offence under the law.

“Any person found guilty of the offence is liable on conviction to a fine of at least N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of at least one year, or both,” he said.

The commission, he said, would intensify its inspection programme to crack down on book pirates’ activities and ensure that owners of creative properties get adequate rewards for their efforts.