The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) on Friday said it had concluded plans to establish copyright clubs in secondary schools in Lagos State.
Mrs Lynda Alphaeus, an Assistant Director in the Prosecutions Unit of the NCC in Lagos, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
Alphaeus said that the clubs were being established to play an important role in creating anti-piracy awareness among future generations in the country.
She said that the clubs would motivate students to imbibe the spirit of creativity and how to make money with it.
The NCC official said that the process of establishing the clubs would commence in a few months.
NAN reports that copyright is an exclusive bundle of rights granted to creators of some kind of works to use and to control the use and exploitation of such works by third parties.
The rights are protected by the Nigerian Copyright Act, Cap 28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2014.
“The process of establishing the clubs has already commenced. We have discussed it with the Principal of Government College, Eric Moore Road, Surulere and some other secondary schools across Lagos State.
“The essence of this is to integrate the students into our programme.
“We intend to move around all the public and private schools in the state and we will also move to other states, because it is a nationwide programme,’’ she said.
According to Alphaeus, the clubs will motivate students to use their imagination or their original ideas to create something new and to also know their intellectual property rights.
“The copyright club is a programme we have put together to bring children of like minds together,
“We will coach them on their innate talents like writing, scripting, sound recording, literary and art works, singing, broadcast and cinematography, and how they can protect their intellectual property rights.
“The establishment of the clubs will enable the children to know about copyright laws from their youth.
“It will teach them not to pirate other people’s works when they grow up and to also familiarise themselves with the sanctions for any infringement.
According to Alphaeus, one of the commission’s objectives is to enlighten Nigerians on the sin of pirating people’s intellectual works and the punishment for such offenses.
She said that the commission would ensure that “Nigerians give proper attention and support to the anti-piracy campaign in the country’’.
The NCC official said the commission appreciated the Narrative Landscape Press Company, Kachifo Ltd, Metropolitan Publishers and Publishers Express Ltd, for their endless support for the commission’s activities.
She said that the publishing companies would donate numerous books to students who joined the copyright clubs in their various schools.
