DIGITAL INFRINGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Copyright as the creation of statute is protective. It is a personal non-tangible right vested in an author, holder, and/or owner (originator or creator) with exclusive right in relation to such eligible work, provided the work, is fixed in a definite medium of expression (now known or later to be developed) from which it may be perceived, reproduced, or communicated either directly or by means of a machine or other device, which right does not remain in perpetuity. Being that technologies that raises issues for copyright are those related to storage, identification and transmission or distribution of works held in digital format, this paper makes the assertion that the need for copyright protection cannot be over emphasized, more so, now it is no more in issue that digital technology is a threat and indeed has threatened through infringing techniques, the conventional modes of enforcement and administration of copyright. Several amendments and regulations introduced over the years, and those yet to be introduced, to address these shortcomings is a pointer to the fact of the existence of these challenges. The draft copyright bill 2015 if enacted, its provisions may beam array of hope for enforcement and administration of copyright in this era.