A Bill titled ” A Bill for an Act to Amend the Copyright Act, Cap C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to provide Stiffer Penalties for Contravention of the Act and for other related matters’ passed second reading in the House of Representatives.

Leading the debate on the Bill, Hon. Bede Eke(PDP:Imo) sponsor of the Bill stated that the Bill would provide for stiffer penalties in the copyright Act. Speaking further, he stated that Nigeria was the largest piracy destination and market in the world for products presumably protected by the Copyright Act. He also attributed the high rate of piracy in Nigeria to factors such as the obsolete provisions in the Copyright Act, which is at variance with some contemporary challenges and new genres of innovation. Hence he recommended that the penalties contained in sections 20 to 39 of the Copyright Act should be amended to reflect such realities. For instance, by increasing the monetary and imprisonment requirement contained in the aforementioned sections to reflect the inflation of the naira and positive societal perception towards copyright matters.

Hon. Edward Pwajok (APC:Plateau) also expressed concern over the damage piracy had caused to Nigeria’s intellectual property highlighting the prevalence of many fake constitutions in circulation all over the country and even in the courts. He also appealed that the Bill be allowed to pass second reading so the Committees could carry out a holistic review of the entire Act with a view of strengthening its effectiveness and achieving set goals that ensure intellectual property and creative art theft are curbed to the barest minimum.

The Bill has been referred to the Committees on Justice for further legislative input.