The Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC),Dr John Asein, said the commission has intensified its online enforcement operations, resulting in significant disruption of piracy activities across digital platforms.
He disclosed this in an interview with the news reporters on Wednesday in Abuja.
Asein said as part of efforts to protect the rights of creators, the commission had shifted significantly from traditional enforcement methods to digital operations, as pirates increasingly perpetuate their activities online.
According to him, the commission has recorded a lot of gains in its online anti-piracy drive, adding that it was able to disrupt activities of pirates, rather than conducting physical raids.
“In the last few years, I will say it has been remarkable. You will notice that we don’t make so much noise again about our operations.
“We have found that more pirates are now online and we have been able to disrupt many activities online.
“Where they used to find free pirated materials, they have been shut down. What we tell them is that they should now learn to pay for the use of such works,” he said.
The director-general said online disruption was particularly important because many piracy operators were faceless, stressing that they had no identifiable addresses and sometimes they based outside Nigeria.
According to him, the commission has also recorded success in tracking down some major operators, including ‘Net Nigeria’, whose activities were investigated for more than three years.
He said the suspect was eventually tracked down through intelligence and persistence and was currently being prosecuted at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Asein explained that investigations revealed that ‘Net Nigeria’ had become a brand associated with illicit activities, with other pirates allegedly using the name to attract traffic to their platforms.
He also cited the case of MovieBox, an online piracy platform, which he said had become an embarrassment to Nigeria because it operated with a ng domain.
“The commission worked with the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) to bring down the .ng domain used by the platform, although mirror sites subsequently emerged.
“We have done so much now to even disrupt the whole MovieBox operations.
“ I can say that once you get hold of a technology and have the right support from other rights owners, you certainly can match some of these illicit activities online,” he noted.
The NCC boss said Nigeria’s online copyright enforcement efforts had also received commendation internationally, adding that rights owners within and outside the country were taking notice of the progress.
Asein attributed some of the progress to the support of the Federal Government, saying this administration had created renewed hope for musicians, authors and other creative industry practitioners through stronger copyright protection.
He said the government had also unlocked resources under the copyright levy system for the benefit of right holders.
According to him, N1.2 billion was disbursed to each of the three Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) representing the literary, music and film sectors.
He said the development was significant because the copyright levy, despite being provided for under the Copyright Act, had not been effectively unlocked for right holders since the law was enacted in 1988.
“We had it in the law. We had regulations from 2012, but this is the first time that we have gone beyond mere regulation to actually unlock it.
“Not just the provisions of the Act, but the provisions of the copyright levy. That is why I said that I will commend this administration for unlocking and making this possible for the creative industry to benefit from the system,” he said.
Asein, however, urged CMOs to improve royalty collection and ensure transparency, accountability and good governance in the distribution of royalties to right holders.
He said the commission was restructuring the collective management system to ensure that all stakeholders operate according to established rules.
Speaking on the future of the creative sector, Asein said it has become an important component of Nigeria’s economy, noting that Nigeria was moving from a knowledge-based economy to one increasingly driven by ‘Artificial Intelligence'(IA).
He said the commission had taken copyright awareness campaigns to schools and informal sectors to ensure that Nigerians understood their place in the creative ecosystem.
“We forget that even those in the media space are also creatives. The moment you begin to know where you stand in the creative ecosystem, you will then be encouraged to do more where you are.
“As you do that, you end up contributing not just to culture and education, but to the total growth of the Nigerian economic system,” he said.
Asein also highlighted the global growth of Nigerian music, particularly Afrobeats, saying the genre had become a global brand with growing popularity in Europe, United States and other parts of the world.
He also commended the Federal Ministry of Justice for its partnership with the commission in strengthening Nigeria’s copyright legal and regulatory framework.
“Several regulations were being developed, including regulations on collective management and authorised entities, with more expected before the end of the year.
“The commission had recently trained directors and senior officers of the Ministry of Justice and will extend the training to legal advisers across the country.
“This will show you that we see the ministry of justice as a frontline partner in this whole effort to improve on the legal and regulatory framework of the Nigerian copyright system,” he emphasised.
Asein stressed that the protection of copyright required a collective effort, urging stakeholders to work together to build a stronger system capable of protecting creators and ensuring that they benefit from their intellectual works.