TITLE TO THE ARTICLE: The Nigerian Copyright Notification Scheme
AUTHOR:
BABATOLA APATA, LL.B, BL, legal Practitioner with G. Elias & Co, Lagos
ABSTRACT:
The Nigerian Copyright Commission (the “Commission”) is a statutory body established by law. The Commission has a common seal, corporate personality and vested with perpetual succession. The Commission has the exclusive responsibility for all matters affecting copyright in Nigeria. Very recently, the Commission established the Copyright Notification Scheme (the “Scheme”) in furtherance of the Commission’s statutory responsibility of “maintaining an effective data bank on authors and their works” and in pursuit of its desire to create an enabling environment for the protection of copyright through effective administration and enforcement of all categories of copyright subsisting in the works eligible thereto. This paper examines the establishment, purposes and benefits of the Scheme. The paper advocates that the Commission, as the regulator and protector of copyright works and its allied intellectual rights in Nigeria, should enact a set of coherent administrative rules for the purpose of achieving the overall objectives of the Scheme.