The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Afam Ezekude

  • NCC seizes 28 containers of pirated works – Official

    NCC seizes 28 containers of pirated works – Official

    The Nigerian Copyright Commission ( NCC ), says 28 shipping containers comprising pirated books and audio-visual works were confiscated from 2011 to the first quarter of 2017.

    Mr. Afam Ezekude, the Director General of the NCC, said this during the signing of signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NCC and the Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS ), on collaborative anti-piracy operations at the nation’s ports and borders, on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Mr Hameed Ali, Comptroller General of NCS signed on behalf of the service.

    Ezekude who lauded the NSC’s role in the seizure, said that the NCS remained its crucial ally in the commission’s anti-piracy drive.

    “This MoU is a step in the right direction as it has formally set in motion synergised efforts between us in our fight against piracy.

    “Movements of pirated works at border points through the air, sea and land, will henceforth be checked effectively.

    “This development has further reiterated our zero-tolerance stand against any means through which pirated works enter the Nigeria market,” he said.

    In his remark, the CG of NCS, Hameed Ali, said that since the organisations were involved in enforcement of government policies, there was need for them to work closely for effective delivery on their mandates.

    He therefore urged NCC to provide relevant expertise training on copyrights to officers of the NCS for them to be more effective in their hunt for pirated creative work at ports and borders.

    “We have realized that we need each other to work more effectively, and this MoU will help in achieving that goal.

    “However, there is need for relevant training for our officers so that they can identify pirated products from the original ones at the ports”, he said.

    The MoU which is for three years is subject to renewal thereafter.

    According to the chief executives, the MoU is to formalise and strengthen the inter-agency collaboration between the two organisations, and to explore further ways to collectively curb importation of pirated works into the country.

    NAN

  • Nigeria presents copyright treaties at WIPO

    Nigeria presents copyright treaties at WIPO

    Nigeria has presented four key Copyright ratified Treaties to the Assembly of member states of the World Intellectual Property Organization ( WIPO ) in Geneva.

    The presentation was made at a 57th WIPO General Assembly meeting in Geneva on October 2.

    Amb. Audu Kadiri, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, said in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

    Kadiri, who presented the treaties to the Director General of WIPO, Dr. Francis Gurry said, Nigeria was committed to the implementation of the treaties in support of the country’s drive to revatilise its economy.

    He listed the treaties to include include the WIPO Copyright Treaty ( WCT ), the Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) and the Beijing Treaty on Audio Visual Performances and the Marrakesh Treaty .

    He explained that the Beijing Treaty will enter into force three months after 30 ratifications or accessions are presented to WIPO.

    Kadiri also added that others will enter into force for Nigeria on January 4, 2018.

    Gurry said that the accessions represented a major commitment on the part of Nigeria to ensure that its copyright system effective and therefore “its protection for performers and for artists and for composers and authors is at the very highest level internationally.”

    Also, Mr Afam Ezekude, Director- General of Nigerian Copyright Commission ( NCC ), who led Nigeria delegates to the meeting said , “With the ratification of the four treaties, Nigeria is about to witness a new era in its intellectual property protection policy and legislation.

    “The development again underscores the urgent need to enact a new Copyright legislation that will implement the standards stipulated in the treaties,” he said.

    “The Ratification of the treaties affirms Nigeria’s acceptance and its undertaking to faithfully perform and carry out obligations under the treaties.

    “Nigeria stands to derive benefits from this instrument when its provisions are eventually domesticated in the revised Copyright bill being proposed by the NCC.

    “Similarly, the Beijing treaty guarantees prospects of remuneration for performers in respect of residual exploitation of their fixed performances.

    “For Nigeria and its burgeoning film industry ( NOLLYWOOD ), this treaty is particularly germane to the operations of the new system of collective management of rights in audiovisual works.

    “It will strengthen and expand opportunities for players in the industry,“ he said.

    NAN recalled that that President Muhammadu Buhari, following an approval of the Federal Executive Council, signed these four (4) instruments of ratification of the Treaties on August 24, 2017.

  • NCC confiscates N10bn pirated items in six years – DG

    NCC confiscates N10bn pirated items in six years – DG

    The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has confiscated pirated materials worth about ten billion Naira in the last six year in the country.

    Mr Afam Ezekude, the NCC Director-General, made this known on Monday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    He said: “The commission has scaled up its enforcement activities in the last six and half years and we have seized pirated items to the tune of over 10 billion naira; remove from markets and shops.

    “So in terms of enforcement and prosecution, things have really, dramatically changed over the last six and half years and the creative industry should be well aware of that.”

    Ezekude also said that the commission’s strategies in eradicating piracy remained the same.

    He said that the commission would introduce new legislations to strengthen the fight against piracy in the country.

    “The draft copyright bill is undergoing fine-tuning at the office of the Attorney General.

    “We are hoping that with the new bill becoming a law, it will help to make the copyright industry more vibrant and encourage more creativity and it will address the issue of piracy on the internet.

    “So these are the sort of things we are hoping to achieve in the next years so that the industry will become a more vibrant industry and contribute more to the economy and the GDP of the country,” he said.

    NAN reports that the Copyright Decree No. 47 of 1988 established NCC in August 1989.

  • Copyright Commission secured 57 convictions in six years, says D-G

    Copyright Commission secured 57 convictions in six years, says D-G

    Mr Afam, Ezekude, the Director-General, Nigerian Copyright Commission says it has secured more than 57 convictions of persons involved in piracy and copyright entrenchments in the country.

    Ezekude made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

    “I want to categorically say that over the last six and half years, the commission in terms of prosecution has secured 57 convictions.

    “However, some of them have led to prison sentences for copyright infringements. So you can see that the commission is doing enough to sanitise the creative industry.

    “I totally disagree with any view point that we are not doing enough in addressing piracy in the country.  With these convictions, it is obvious that the commission is up and doing, Ezekude said.

    The NCC boss also maintained that the recent meeting of the National Working Group on copyright licensing in tertiary institutions organised by Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) was a welcome development.

    He explained that the meeting was organised to design a framework for licensing of tertiary institutions in terms of photocopy of copyright materials in their campuses.

    “The framework will facilitate the establishment of structures with the view to authors and publishers of such works that are being photocopied in their campuses to be compensated for their works.

    “So, the meeting is going to come up with that framework to start the process of licensing of tertiary institutions in the country,’’ Ezekude said.

    NAN reports that that NCC was established in August 1989, by the Copyright Decree No.47 of 1988 now codified as Copyright Act (CAP. C28, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004).

    Sequel to the copyright amendments of 1992 and 1999, the statutory mandate of the commission was expanded to include the administration, enforcement, protection, promotion and regulation of copyright in Nigeria.

  • NCC confiscates N1.5b pirated materials in Lagos

    The Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC) has confiscated pirated materials worth N1.5billion during a raid at Apapa Wharf Terminal in Lagos.

    Its Director-General, Afam Ezekude, told journalists that pirated goods have been seized from several states such as Kwara, Nassarawa, Abuja and Lagos where materials running into billions of naira were found so far this year.

    He said literary works such as former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s memoir: My Watch, foreign DVD’s and musical works were among a long list of copyrighted products being pirated.

    Ezekude said a crackdown on illegal production and distribution of copyright work led to the arrest of eight people in Kaduna town on July 22.

    NCC, he said, also confiscated over 4,700 copies of musical CDs, DVDs and VCDs estimated at N2million in Enugu State on August 5.

    Arrested suspects will be charged to court soon, the commission added.

  • BON: NCC DG to address piracy summit

    BON: NCC DG to address piracy summit

    COME Sunday, September 21, foremost intellectual copyright advocate, Afam Ezekude, will deliver a keynote address with the theme: Piracy: Reality Check and The Way Forward at the Talents Meet Class, a Best of Nollywood initiative, scheduled to hold at Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos.

    Ezekude, who is the Director General of the Nigeria Copyright Commission, said: “While we celebrate the achievements of Nollywood, we must equally underscore the need to ensure that the gains of this cultural revolution is sustained through a system that acknowledges and rewards the creative input of participants in the movie industry. This is because the various inputs are all products of creative genius of people whose basic resource is their intellectual abilities. The intellectual property system remains critical to the development of the creative industries.”

    Panelists at the event, which will be moderated by writer and film critic, Hussein Shaibu, include veteran actor, Jide Kosoko; president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima; filmmaker, Zik Zulu Okafor and foremost Nollywood marketers, Aina Kusoro and Abdul Rasaq.

    According to Seun Oloketuyi, Executive Producer, Best of Nollywood Awards, the Talents Meet Class event is a major component of BON’s annual awards ceremony that provides a platform for the stars and stakeholders in Nollywood to interact with the movers and shakers of corporate Nigeria, while exploring areas of mutual interests between them.

    This year’s event, he further revealed, will be hosted by the chairman of Apapa Local Government Area, Hon. Ayodeji Joseph.