COMBATING DIGITAL PIRACY IN NIGERIA. AN ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGICAL PROTECTIVE MEASURES AND RIGHTS MANAGEMENT INFORMATION UNDER THE COPYRIGHT BILL

Abstract

The adoption of digital technologies and creation of global internet infrastructure for the vast array of companies and individuals offering products and services that leverage its connectivity has transformed our world over the past two decades. The Internet has grown from a resource platform for individuals to an essential omnichannel medium for more than 2 billion users worldwide and with each facet of growth comes unprecedented challenges. The impact of digital technology on Nigerian creative copyright cannot be overemphasized. The Nigerian creative industry like many industries around the world has had to go through evolution; and the advent of the internet introduced newer threats for stakeholders in the creative industry. The ease of access afforded unauthorized personnel copying and distributing creative content through CDs or online mediums has affected the traditional methods of protecting works in Nigeria. Every new channel has in turn created several loops that have culminated in newer challenges of digital piracy that is not totally addressed by the law. There is therefore, a need to overhaul the current legal protection accorded to copyright works to fulfill the country's international obligation as a party to the WIPO Copyright Treaty while providing a more suitable protection roadmap that helps to eliminate the ever growing challenge of digital piracy. On this note, a Bill was made to amend the current Copyright Act. Among other measures introduced, the bill like other international copyright instruments domesticated the anti-circumvention provisions as provided in the Article 11 and 12 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty which provides against the circumvention of technological protective measures (TPMs) and rights management information (RMIs) put in place to protect copyright works. This thesis examines the impact of digital technology on the Nigerian creative industry, while also examining the adequacy of existing legal reforms to digital piracy under Nigeria’s copyright law. This thesis will also focus majorly on TPMs and RMIs as the protective mechanisms.