President Muhammadu Buhari has signed into law the Copyright (Repeal) Act 2022 recently passed by the National Assembly.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Hon. Nasiru Baballe Ila, who made this known in a statement on Thursday said the bill and one other were assented to by the President on March 17, 2023.
The statement said the Copyright Act 2022 which repeals the Copyright Act, Cap C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and enacts the Copyright Act 2022, provides for the regulation, protection, and administration of copyright.
Ila said the enactment of the new Copyright Act demonstrates the Buhari administration’s commitment to re-energizing Nigeria’s creative economy and making it more globally competitive in the digital age.
“The principal objectives of the new law, as outlined in section 1 are to: protect the rights of authors and ensure just rewards and recognition for their intellectual efforts; provide appropriate limitations and exceptions to guarantee access to creative works; facilitate Nigeria’s compliance with obligations arising from relevant international copyright treaties and conventions; and enhance the capacity of the Nigerian Copyright Commission for effective regulation, administration, and enforcement”, he said.
He said the new Copyright Act expands the rights of authors, raises the sanctions for criminal infringements, and “more adequately addresses the challenges posed by digital and online use of copyright works.”
“The Act also provides specially for the needs of blind, visually impaired, and print disabled persons to have access to learning and reading materials in accessible formats”, he said.
The new act, among other things, seeks to strengthen the organizational framework and bring its provision in conformity with current democratic principles and operations of existing educational institutions, and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.