The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC says the sensitisation and monitoring exercise embarked upon by the commission is to discourage the purchase and sales of pirated materials in the country, especially in schools and bookshops.
The Director, NCC Port Harcourt Directorate Office, Mr Abdul-Salami Babatunde, stated this when he led officials of the Commission on an inspection tour to some high-profile schools and major markets in the state.
Mr Babatunde, while addressing members of the school management, said an infringement on the rights of authors and publishers is a setback on the growth of intellectual property, which the NCC, under the leadership of the Director General, Doc John Asein, would leave no stone unturned in tackling the menace.
He explained that willful copyright infringement could result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment, which is in accordance with the Copyright Act.
The Director, NCC Port Harcourt Directorate Office, urged school proprietors and booksellers to desist from patronising pirated materials and join in the fight against the crime.
” The continuous sensitisation and monitoring exercise is one of the efforts by the NCC to stamp out these criminal elements and stop them from cashing out on the handiwork of the original owners of the intellectual properties. It is a crime and anyone caught indulging in the act will face the wrath of the law,” Mr Babatunde warned.
Mr Babatunde, who maintained that perpetrators of the act would be forced out of the business when they are no longer being patronised, advised school proprietors to be wary of the publishers who supply books to their schools so that they do not fall victim to piracy.
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” My team and I visited about eight schools in Port Harcourt metropolis, namely, Excellent Montessori school, Spring Valley International school, Brilliant Secondary school, Brain Forte International school, amongst others, to sensitise them that it is no more business as usual. They know the real publishers and should not cut corners in order to make big profits by patronising pirated books,” Director NCC Port Harcourt Directorate Office said.
The NCC team also visited some bookshops and outlets in Mile 3 market, Port Harcourt, where they sensitised the book dealers on the dangers of getting involved in the business of piracy.
While inspecting their purchase invoice, Mr Babatunde urged them to always patronise directly from the publishers or their authorised agents to avoid being caught in the web of the law.
” You as businessmen and women should know it is not right to stampede other people’s source of livelihood, and that is why NCC wants you all to join in the fight to protect the rights of genuine publishers and authors in Rivers State and the country at large”, Mr Babatunde stated.
The Director said the sensitisation and monitoring exercise will be a continuous one until the country is rid of Piracy bedevilling the originality of the Nation’s intellectual property.
