The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) says it will support stakeholders in the creative industry to make better use of the copyright system, to ensure effective growth of the industry.
The Director-General of NCC, Mr John Asein, said this on Wednesday, when the Chairman, Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN), Oritz Willibi, donated a bus to him, in addition to 20 laptops, in Abuja, on behalf of the MCSN.
Asein, who thanked MCSN over its donation, said that the gesture would go a long way in assisting the commission to fulfill its mandate primarily aimed at protecting creative works.
“With this gesture, we will ensure that every sector of the creative industry gets the support it requires from the NCC.
“It is our duty to ensure that we render quality service in areas of our mandate and see that a creative sector gets fresh breath so that they can do more.’’
The director general said that the commission planned to organise a Creative Sector Summit where all relevant stakeholders would discuss and identify copyright challenges and proffer customized solutions to them.
Earlier, Willibi said that the MCSN donated the bus and other equipment to the commission, to ensure proper enforcement and implementation of copyright laws in the country.
“It is just to underscore the fact that we do not have to wait for government all the times. We see that NCC as an agency is handicapped in many ways particularly in terms of funding.
“This commission is very critical in the copyright sector because it is the only agency that is supposed to drive money into the pockets of creative people, to ensure that they get dividend of their labour.
“But, unfortunately, without a proper enforcement and implementation of copyright laws by the NCC, there is not much that can happen in that regard.
“So, we have identified the problems that are needed to be addressed. If every organisation does little of what we have done, then NCC will have no reason to complain than to do the needful.
“So, we are making this donation to contribute our quota to assist the commission to fulfill its mandate for effective regulation and enforcement of copyright laws in Nigeria,’’ MCSN boss said.
According to him, it was the hope of the MCSN that with the gesture, the efforts of the commission will have positive effects on the creative sector in Nigeria through the protection of creative works.
