The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) on Wednesday established copyright clubs in Government Senior College, Ikoyi, in Lagos State.
Dr John Asein, Director-General of NCC while delivering his lectures in the school premises in Lagos, urged students to stay away from piracy.
Asein represented by Mr Mathew Ojo, Director, Lagos directorate office, said that establishing the clubs in secondary schools became necessary in order to enlighten the students on the law guiding copyright and the punishment that follows piracy.
“The students will be exposed to anti-piracy act and to exonerate them from choosing piracy as an occupation in the nearest future.
“Piracy is a punishable offence, abstain from it,” he said.
Also, Mrs Lynda Alphaeus, Deputy Director in the Prosecutions Unit of the NCC in Lagos, in her speech, 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.
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.
Alphaeus said that the essence of the clubs was to integrate the students into the commission’s 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 artworks, 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 offences.
She said that the commission would ensure that “Nigerians give proper attention and support to the anti-piracy campaign in the country’’.
In her response, Titiloluwa Oye, an S.S.S.3 science student, commended the commission for establishing a copyright club in the school.
She said that she would join the club and ensure that she preaches the gospel of anti-piracy to her friends.
“Piracy is an illegal act and punishable by law, I am well enlightened now and I will ensure that I discourage my colleagues from indulging in piracy act,” she said.
Earlier, Mr Olatunbosun Taofeeq, a writer, in his address, urges the students to be creative and explore their innate talent for self-reliance.
He also supported the establishment of the copyright club in the school with the sum of N50,000 and copies of his published materials.
(www.nannews.ng).
