Nigeria’s national antipiracy campaign has been boosted by the United States Embassy with the donation of diverse operational equipment to strengthen the regulatory and enforcement interventions of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC).
Presenting the working tools to the Director-General of NCC, Mr. John O. Asein at the Commission’s Headquarters in Abuja on 2nd December 2020; the Director, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) of the United States Department of Justice, Mr. James Jawett II, expressed hope that the working tools would assist in the actualisation of the Commission’s mandate and growth of the creative industry in Nigeria.
He added that the donation marked an improvement in the good working relationship between the agencies of the Governments of Nigeria and the United States. The equipment donated include walkie-talkies, public address systems, projectors and projector screens, laptops, printers, backup batteries, whiteboards with markers and flash drives.
Speaking during the presentation ceremony, the Director-General pointed out that the facilities would assist the Commission, particularly in its efforts to check online copyright infringements as part of the renewed national antipiracy campaign. He indicated that the Commission’s newly created Online Copyright Inspectors Unit would be the first beneficiary of the equipment stressing that the fifty laptops would assist the Unit in the trace of online pirates and matching them with technology.
The Director-General expressed gratitude to the United States Government for the donation, adding that it was a giant leap for the Commission and a significant threshold in the relationship between the Commission and various Departments of the US Government. He stated that the donation was an incentive for the Commission to do more in delivering on its mandate and assured that all the items would be put to good use by the Commission for the ultimate benefit of the creative industry.
Observing that the donation was a wakeup call to other stakeholders to match words with action by supporting the enforcement drive of the Commission, the Director-General appealed to other donor agencies and corporate organisations to support the Federal Government’s anti-piracy drive. He used the opportunity to also thank other donors and law enforcement agencies for their collaboration.
Speaking on the draft copyright bill that has been cleared by the Federal Executive Council for presentation to the National Assembly, Mr. Asein expressed the creative sector’s appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN and members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the special interest that they have shown in giving Nigeria a comprehensive copyright legislation that meets the needs of the digital environment.
He disclosed that the copyright bill provides for increased sanctions that serve as deterrence to piracy, addresses the challenges of online infringement, digital protection and better management of rights as well as a legal framework for the registration of works.
The presentation of the working tools was concluded with the signing of the handing over documents by Mr. James Jewett II, representing the US INL and Mr. John Asein, on behalf of the NCC.
Other officials of the US Embassy in attendance were the Coordinator, International Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property (ICHIP), US Department of Justice, Ms. Tanya Hill; Legal Adviser, US Department of Justice, Mrs Bisi Olabanji; Programme Management Specialist, INL, US Embassy, Ms. Adaeze Aki and Project Assistant, INL, US Embassy, Mr. Mahmud Adamu.
Vincent A. Oyefeso
Director, Public Affairs
For: Director-General
