Reps approve recommendation to review Copyright Act
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the recommendations of its joint Committees on Justice and Judiciary on the need to investigate the activities of the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC).
Following an earlier motion on the floor of the house, the two committees were mandated to urgently investigate the activities of the NCC.
According to the recommendation, the committees should liaise with stakeholders in the copyright sector to carry out a reform of the Copyright Act.
The committees would liaise with the Attorney -General of the Federation and Minister of Justice as well as with the NCC to carry out the proposed reform.
The committee would also meet with the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) and the Nigerian Law Reform Commission (NLRC) for the review of the NCC Act and its regulations.
The approval followed the recommendations of the report of the joint Committee on Justice and Judiciary on the “urgent need to investigate the activities of the NCC''.
The committees said that the review became necessary to clear any inconsistencies, ambiguities or vagueness, relating to registration and licencing of multiple collecting societies (collection of music).
The review would also make the operations of the NCC transparent and accountable to the citizens, 'particularly Article 5 of the Berne Convention, the WIPO Copyright treaty'' which Nigeria is a signatory.
The House also approved the recommendation that the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) having satisfied all the requirements of the law should be registered by the NCC forthwith.
The lawmakers further approved the recommendation that the NCC should revisit the applications of other organisations that applied for licence as collecting societies for performing and mechanical rights in musical works.
The house also approved the recommendation that NCC should be urged to rise above board in order to be seen as fair and just.
It would be recalled that there have been a lingering crisis between the NCC and the MCSN over its alleged refusal to register the society.