Nigerian Copyright Commission and the Nigerian Customs Service have decided to work together more closely to create fresh anti-piracy tactics that will foster innovation and strengthen the country’s creative economy.
The Punch reported that according to a statement, the agreement was made recently at the NCS Headquarters during a courtesy visit between Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adeniyi and Director-General of NCC, Dr. John Asein.
The heads of both agencies stressed during the visit the strategic significance of intellectual property, especially copyright, to the nation’s development and the destruction wrought by copyright pirates’ actions in the industry.
This inspired them to declare their intention to implement proactive ICT-driven measures and improve their operations by providing intelligence and training to prevent copyright piracy.
In part, the statement said, “Asein expressed optimism that the criminal provisions of the new Copyright Act will complement the Nigeria Customs Act’s section 168, which specifically grants the Service powers to detain, arrest, and seize any material that infringes the Copyright Act, to strengthen border policing and the anti-piracy efforts of the two agencies.”
In addition to expressing gratitude to the CGC and NCS management for their assistance in carrying out the Commission’s mandate in combating piracy, Dr. Asein declared that the Commission would implement a pre-import notification system to expedite the clearance of legitimate imports of copyright materials and simplify the identification of illicit imports.
Asein added that the commission was collaborating with publishers to introduce antipiracy stamps for use on books to discourage pirates.
The Director-General gave the CGC assurances that the commission will uphold its commitment to combating all forms of smuggling and purging Nigerian ports of pirated materials, while clarifying that importers of copyrighted works are also smugglers.
