Abstract
The advent of the digital milieu and the explosion of the internet has made access, use, modification or duplication of original work easy. Physical reproductions have been replaced by digital reproduction, which has become much easier as well as cost-effective. The increased use of digital technology and online activities pose a serious threat to the cardinal objective of copyright protection. To counter these threats, measures have been developed technologically to make digital works difficult to copy, distribute and access without the necessary permission. These measures are covered under the heading of Digital Rights Management (DRM). Traditional copyright laws did not contemplate these threats and does not make provision to tackle them. Several countries have amended their copyright laws to address the threats posed by digital advancement. In this context, Nigeria has a draft (amendment) bill, 2015, which is before its national assembly. This paper calls for the swift passage of the bill to enable Nigeria to effectively provide for a legal framework to counter the threats posed by these digital advancements.
References
Adebambo, A., According to Intellectual Property: A Pro-Development Vision of the Law and the Nigerian Intellectual Property Law and Policy Reform in the Knowledge Era 5th Inaugural Lecture (Lagos: Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) press, 2012a).Search in Google Scholar
Adebambo, A., Nigerian Copyright System: Principles and Perspectives (Odade Publishers, 2012b).Search in Google Scholar
Banwo & Ighodalo, Strenthening Intellectual Property Rights and Protection in Nigeria, available at: <http://www.banwo-ighodalo.com/grey-matter/strengthening-intellectual-property-rights-and-protection-in-nigeria?leaf=4>, accessed 26 January 2018.Search in Google Scholar
Copyright Act, Cap. C28 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (2004).Search in Google Scholar
Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act (2000).Search in Google Scholar
Copyright and Unfair Competition Prevention Law (Law No. 77 of) (1999).Search in Google Scholar
“Creative Industries Can Be a Major Source of Tax Revenue, Employment”, The Guardian 6 March 2017, Available at: <https://ippmedia.com/en/editorial/creative-industries-can-be-major-source-tax-revenue-employment>, Accessed 26 January 2018.Search in Google Scholar
Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention) Act (2015) (“Cybercrime Act”).Search in Google Scholar
European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, Common Position (EC) No. 48/2000, 47 (28 September 2000).Search in Google Scholar
Fareed, A.R. and H.B. Iftikhar, Copyright Protection in Digital Environment: Emerging Issues, 2 International Journal of Humanities and Social Invention, no. Issue (2013).Search in Google Scholar
Julia, L., How Digital Rights Management Works, available at: <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/drm1.htm>, accessed 8 May 2017.Search in Google Scholar
Kunle, O., Evolution and Future Trends of Copyright in Nigeria, 2 Journal of Open Access to Law (2014).Search in Google Scholar
Lanre, A., Cybercrime Act 2015: A Review, NIALS Journal of Intellectual Property (NJIP) (2014–2015).Search in Google Scholar
Lipton, J., Rethinking Cyberlaw: A New Vision for Internet Law (Elgar Publisher, 2015).10.4337/9781781002186Search in Google Scholar
Michael, E.A., Media, Technology and Copyright: Integrating Law & Economics (Cheltenham UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2004).Search in Google Scholar
Morolong, S., Copyright in the Digital Environment: An Assessment of the Botswana Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act 2000ʹ. 3 UBLJ (2006).Search in Google Scholar
Okou, F.T., S. Okou and B.O. Modey, The Implication of New Technology on Nigerian Copyright Protection Practices in Today’s Computer Age, 37 Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization (2015).Search in Google Scholar
United States of America’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Pub. L. No. 105–304, 122 Stat (1998), 2860.Search in Google Scholar
White V. Samsung Electronics America Inc., 989 F.2d 1512 (9th Cir) (1993).Search in Google Scholar
WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT).Search in Google Scholar
WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty.Search in Google Scholar
WIPO Treaties: “Making Available” Right, available at: <http://www.ifpi.org/content/library/wipo-treaties-making-available-right.pdf>.Search in Google Scholar
WIPO-Administered Treaties, Available at: <http://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/>, Accessed 8 July 2017.Search in Google Scholar
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Intellectual Property on the Internet: A Survey of Issues (WIPO Publication, 2002).Search in Google Scholar
Yu Peter, K., “Anticircumvention and Anti Anticircumvention”, Legal Studies Research Series, Research Paper No. 04-05, Available at: <http://ssrn.com/abstract=931899>.Search in Google Scholar
Zoya, N., India: Protecting Copyright in the Digital Environment, available at: <http://www.mondaq.com/india/x/370058/Copyright/Protecting+Copyright+In+The+Digital+Environment>. accessed 15 October 2017.Search in Google Scholar
© 2018 Law and Development Review
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Mapping Law and Development from African Perspectives: An Overview
- Legal Pluralism and Effective Governance for Development in Africa
- The African Union Agenda 2063 and the Imperative of Democratic Governance
- Unpacking Legal Pluralism in Commonwealth Africa – Towards Strengthening Methods for Rule of Law Programming for Development
- Demand for Law in the African Private Sector
- OHADA and the Making of Transnational Commercial Law in Africa
- Corruption in Public Procurement in Lesotho
- Law and Industrial Promotion
- Law and Development: Lessons from South Korea
- Has it Reinvented Iron Law? South Africa’s Social Industrialisation, not Iron Industrialisation
- Law–Finance–Growth Nexus in the Context of Africa
- Inclusive Industrialization: The Interplay Between Investment Incentives and SME Promotion Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Intellectual Property Rights for Development
- The Creative Industry and South African Intellectual Property Law
- Digital Rights Management System and Administration: A Wake-up Call for Nigeria!
- Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in Nigerian Courts
- Poverty and Sustainable Development
- De-Growth and Sustainable Development: Rethinking Human Rights Law and Poverty Alleviation
- Macro Aid: Applying Microcredit’s Group Liability Principle to Foreign Aid
- Law as a Tool for Ensuring Contributions of Small-Scale Women Farmers to Food Security in Nigeria
- Law and Natural Resources
- The Protection and Promotion of a People’s Right to Mineral Resources in Africa: International and Municipal Perspectives
- Justifying Water Rights in Nigeria: Fiction or Achievable Panacea?
- Three Mining Charters and a Draft: How the Politics and Rhetoric of Development in the South African Mining Sector are Keeping Communities in Poverty
- Addressing Human Rights Concerns in the Extractive Resource Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa using the Lens of Article 46 (C) of the Malabo Protocol
- Wildlife Poaching and Rule of Law in Kenya
- Good Governance and Development in Botswana – The Democracy Conundrum
- Book Review
- Yong-Shik Lee: Reclaiming Development in the World Trading System
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Mapping Law and Development from African Perspectives: An Overview
- Legal Pluralism and Effective Governance for Development in Africa
- The African Union Agenda 2063 and the Imperative of Democratic Governance
- Unpacking Legal Pluralism in Commonwealth Africa – Towards Strengthening Methods for Rule of Law Programming for Development
- Demand for Law in the African Private Sector
- OHADA and the Making of Transnational Commercial Law in Africa
- Corruption in Public Procurement in Lesotho
- Law and Industrial Promotion
- Law and Development: Lessons from South Korea
- Has it Reinvented Iron Law? South Africa’s Social Industrialisation, not Iron Industrialisation
- Law–Finance–Growth Nexus in the Context of Africa
- Inclusive Industrialization: The Interplay Between Investment Incentives and SME Promotion Policies in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Intellectual Property Rights for Development
- The Creative Industry and South African Intellectual Property Law
- Digital Rights Management System and Administration: A Wake-up Call for Nigeria!
- Enforcing Intellectual Property Rights in Nigerian Courts
- Poverty and Sustainable Development
- De-Growth and Sustainable Development: Rethinking Human Rights Law and Poverty Alleviation
- Macro Aid: Applying Microcredit’s Group Liability Principle to Foreign Aid
- Law as a Tool for Ensuring Contributions of Small-Scale Women Farmers to Food Security in Nigeria
- Law and Natural Resources
- The Protection and Promotion of a People’s Right to Mineral Resources in Africa: International and Municipal Perspectives
- Justifying Water Rights in Nigeria: Fiction or Achievable Panacea?
- Three Mining Charters and a Draft: How the Politics and Rhetoric of Development in the South African Mining Sector are Keeping Communities in Poverty
- Addressing Human Rights Concerns in the Extractive Resource Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa using the Lens of Article 46 (C) of the Malabo Protocol
- Wildlife Poaching and Rule of Law in Kenya
- Good Governance and Development in Botswana – The Democracy Conundrum
- Book Review
- Yong-Shik Lee: Reclaiming Development in the World Trading System