World Intellectual Property Day: NCC will continue to protect expression rights
Barth Ndubuwah, Port Harcourt
As the world marks the World Intellectual Property Day,the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has vowed to continue to protect the rights of expression in form of musical works,artistic works etc,by intellectual property owners against infringement by pirates.
This was contained in a message delivered by the Rivers State Coordinator of NCC,Mrs Nkechi Okechukwu Ezinma on behalf of the Director General of the Commission,Mr John Asein in Port Harcourt as part of sensitization campaign to schools in the State to mark the 2021 World Intellectual Property Day in Nigeria.
Asein said NCC does not protect ideas,but rather it protects expression of such ideas by intellectual property rights owners.
He advised the students of Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic as potential rights owners to register their works with NCC for proper protection against infringement by pirates. He was emphatic that the Commission can arrest and prosecute violators of any property right of intellectual property.
The State Coordinator of NCC, Mrs Ezinma said the DG of NCC, Mr Asein has stated it loud and clear that “the Commission is committed to assisting SMEs with the needed administrative and legislative framework to facilitate their use other the copyright system in converting ideas to bankable assets and engerder investor confidence in the sector.”
Asein said a legal framework is being pursued and when passed into law will give impetus to the growth of SMEs by providing adequate protection to them in the digital environment under the present Act.
The DG also assured that the Commission will improve the copyright registration system to make it more user friendly and responsive to the needs of SMEs.
He said while the NCC will continue to support legitimate SMEs, it frowns at illegal and unfair business practice. He stressed that the Commission will continue to promote a culture of respect for copyright and pursue zero tolerance policy for all forms of piracy in the copyright market.
In his remarks at the event,Rector of Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic, Dr Sam Kalagbor, represented by Dean Faculty of Information and Communications Technology, Sir Sam Eke said NCC should make itself more available to the school, bearing in mind that there are many potential intellectual property owners in the institution.
He thanked NCC for bringing the sensitization campaign to the school.
Highlight of the program was donation of books to Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic for their library by NCC.
