DPA: Welcome home Sir. We really do miss you.
Mr. Akpan: Thank you, I miss everyone and the Commission too.
DPA: It is reassuring that you will continue to be relevant to the Commission and the Country’s IP Space. You were part of the 2022 Copyright Act drafting Committee right from the very beginning. Now that it has been signed into law and implementation has commenced, are there some provisions in the Act that you would want the Commission to be more intentional about?
Mr. Akpan: Thank you so much, I wish to express my appreciation for this opportunity. It is refreshing to see that the Commission is still kicking well. The new Copyright Act was a huge achievement for the Commission. Yes I was one of those that worked on that beat from the conception up until delivery and so were many people in the Commission and the industry.
For the first time, we have a law that has a reflection on the thinking of members of the copyright community and it is a plus itself. Talking about those areas we want to see more positive action, there are quite a number of them. The Act actually, has boosted the powers of the Commission with a number of other innovations.
The first area I would like to see more action is to leverage some of the provisions that enhance rights management. One of such is the Copyright Registration which incidentally, I was instrumental to its introduction in the Commission. The copyright registration, is a very good facility that needs to be worked on to make it more functional. Looking at some of the provisions, it creates some benefits for those who embrace the system. A lot of people don’t know those benefits and it is getting topical by the day. There is need to promote the utilisation of the Registration system because the whole essence of it is to aid rights clearance and help create independent evidence of existence of works, especially unpublished works.
This facility and its advantages have not been maximised so far by industry stakeholders. It is necessary to get more people on board now that it is a part of the law so that the database will be more robust and meaningful to the users. Instructively, at the time the Copyright Registration commenced, it received a lot of criticism as some people believed it was anti Berne Convention. Over the years, a lot of countries are embracing the Registration system including the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in what we now have as WIPO Proof. Copyright is a whole gamut of innovation and creativity.
The second area which we must look at is Online Enforcement. There is need to make the online space safer for creators to leverage and actually have good remuneration. With technology, the digital space has come to stay there is need to maximise it. This can be achieved through creating safeguards and some regulatory framework that will enable a robust enforcement of rights.
In the new Act, there is a provision that allows the Commission to set up Dispute Resolution Panel. Our judiciary system is usually challenged and does not encourage full-fledged litigation, often times copyright issues come with urgency. There is need to engage and still preserve business relationships. The role of the Dispute Resolution Panel, will help a lot in resolving issues bordering on leasing, royalty and licensing. This will enable creators to get their due in time while users of works will have their interests safeguarded in terms of cutting down arbitrary needs of licensing.
Likewise, the Commission needs to look at the provisions for the blind and visually impaired, to quickly roll out some prescriptions on who are the authorized entities. This will facilitate the practical implementation of the provisions.
DPA: Talking about the issue of enforcement of the provisions in the Copyright Act, I believe there are so many sides to it. How is the Commission faring in the area of sensitisation and enlightenment? What is your take on this?
Mr. Akpan: Yes, probably our enlightenment leaves a lot of gaps but certainly the Commission’s public enlightenment outreach is not at a zero point. People cannot say they are ignorant of issues surrounding the abuse of the rights of creators. A case in point recently is the Gentleman Ejeagha’s Gwo gwo gwon gwo syndrome, that came at the back of controversy whether he is getting his due. People who complained of not being informed about copyright may be hiding under a finger. No matter the level of publicity, laws become clearer when they are applicable to someone personally as people don’t willingly admit to crime.
The only way to gauge the extent of the Commission’s publicity effort is to conduct a survey, which is much easier to carry out now than what was done ten years ago. The survey which was on the perception index of the NCC carried out years ago had an interesting outcome as many people didn’t understand the meaning of copyright but have heard about copyright and the NCC. The survey needs to be conducted to ascertain the extent of people’s awareness about copyright and piracy especially the online piracy which is now the order of the day.
DPA: The Commission has really come a long way as it recently clocked 35. What can you say about the NCC at 35 Sir?
Mr. Akpan: From the point where I joined the NCC it can be attested to that it has made some strides with tangible results. Of all the IP agencies in Nigeria, the copyright system seems to have the most dynamism in terms of legal reforms. At inception, the NCC came on the heels of the 1988 Copyright Treaty, following an amendment in 1999 and total repeal of the Act in 2022. The Commission metamorphosed from a council into a commission and also added so much in terms of mandate.
The mandate expanded from an administrative and enlightening agency to a regulatory one which is critical to managing the copyright space. Likewise, to prosecution of copyright cases which is part of the enforcement mandate. All these are evidence of quantum leap in terms of growth in the Commission.
I look forward to a very vibrant NCC in the next five years. However, there are things we expect to see which will definitely come to pass as the law is being implemented. There is need for proactiveness about the law as it is always behind development. Today for example the issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is in the front burner, the law is evolving and discussion is ongoing, copyright is squarely implicated in AI than any area of IP. We need to rethink how the law should sit within the digital space especially the issues of AI, Metaverse and so forth.
On the issue of awareness creation, the Commission must leverage the social media and digital space to maximise our resource to achieve a wider reach in order to communicate in the language of the new generation.
More importantly, there is need to re-inject energy and creativity into the human capital of the Commission. Growth cannot be achieved without people, the need to re-inject more energy into the current human resource base of the Commission has become very imperative for it to be relevant, competitive and proactive in the next five years.
DPA: Thank you so much Sir for visiting and honouring this session. we wish you well.
Mr. Akpan: Thank you also for giving me the opportunity to speak.