The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has called for more funding and approval to collect the copyright levy, to enable it discharge its mandate effectively.
Prof. Animi Silvanus-Pepple, Chairman, Governing Board of NCC, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, on Sunday.
NAN reports that the copyright levy order was gazetted in 2012, but still awaiting the approval of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to enable the commission to begin its collection.
Silvanus-Pepple, who said that the commission was grossly underfunded, added that it also had the problems of inadequate offices and staff, to effectively tackle issues of piracy in the country.
“We intend to meet with relevant authorities and try to let them understand why it is important that we have that approval to go ahead with the collection.
“Even the poor state of revenue or funds for the commission is a strong reason for that approval to be given. The commission is grossly underfunded. If you bear in mind that the commission’s mandate covers the entire federation.
“Right now the commission is operating in only 14 states out of the 36 states.
“In addition, the commission is hampered in effectively carrying out its work because of many constraints such as that of staffs,’’ the commission chairman said.
She recalled that the board was told during an interactive session with relevant stakeholders that the commission had only 324 staffs in the entire federation with 14 offices.
“From the briefing, we were made to understand that the commission does not have any building of its own apart from the one building which is in a state of dilapidation and disrepair.
“Even for the other states that the commission is in, the accommodation is rented; some are just a room, some are just two rooms.
“We begin to see that the commission needs to have appropriate infrastructure in terms of buildings and places to work in,’’ Silvanus-Pepple said.
“There is also need to have more staff in the commission to be able to carry out their work.
“Right now the commission has offices in 14 states. If you want to do a simple arithmetic, sharing 324 staff into 14 states, this is quite obvious.
“But then, we even see that the bulk of staff is in Abuja. We have 194 in Abuja. So, we now have just about five staff in a state, sometimes two. How do we now intend to carry out the commission’s work?
“And the commission has been given powers such as power of investigation, power of arrest, power of prosecution, power of confiscating materials that infringe copyright. So, that is a lot of work.’’
The board chairman said that the commission needed a huge amount of money both from government and the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to carry out its work. adding that the copyright levy order would help in the area of IGR.
“We believe that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning is aware of all these issues surrounding the funding, she will not hesitate to give approval.
“That is why the consultation and meetings become very important. That is the way we intend to approach it,’’ Silvanus-Pepple said.
NAN reports that the NCC was established under section 34 of the Copyright Act (Cap C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004).It was first inaugurated as the Nigerian Copyright Council on Aug. 19, 1989.
It was elevated to the status of a Commission in April 1996 and this administrative change was confirmed by the Copyright (Amendment) Decree 1999.
The Commission is the Government agency responsible for all copyright matters in Nigeria, including the administration, regulation, enforcement and prosecution under the Copyright Act. (NAN)
