By Abubakar Baba Ahmad.
The Nigerian Copyright Commission NCC has urged bookshops and print outlets to keep proper registers of printing activities and avoid purchasing and saling of pirated books to escape prosecution and imprisonment.
The Coordinator Bauchi Office of the NCC, Barrister Nasiru Ahmed Tijjani made the call when he led a sensitisation campaign to bookshops and printing outlets within Bauchi metropolis.
Barrister Nasiru Tijjani said the exercise which is part of a nationwide activity is aimed at enlightening printers on the need to keep proper registers of their businesses and to educate bookshop owners on the importance of avoiding the purchase and sales of pirated books.
He further disclosed that the activity is part of the Commission’s efforts to promote creativity, protect intellectual property rights, and curb copyright piracy across Bauchi State and the nation at large.
The State Coordinator advised them to visit the commission’s office for more clarification, collaboration and guidance on the need to understand the New Act and work with it to avoid breaking the law.
Speaking to Radio Nigeria, the State Chairman Printers Associations Alhaji Sani Ladan Abdullahi thanked the commission for the initiative, noting that the effort will sanitise their activities and protect them from piracy and other related crimes.
Sani Abdullahi promised to convene a stakeholders meeting with members on how to sensitise people about the new law and how to implement it in their daily business activities.
The NCC Act 2022 strengthens the enforcement powers of the Nigerian Copyright Commission by clarifying criminal violations, liabilities, and giving Copyright Inspectors powers to investigate, arrest, and seize pirated materials.
The sensitisation team, led by the State Coordinator, together with the Head of Enforcement Ahmed Aliyu Dadi and other staff of the Commission, visited key places to include Unguwar Jaki street where it interacted with members of the printers association, Azzahra Printing Press as well as Al-Ansar and Joy modern Bookshops all within Bauchi metropolis.
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