Abstract
Copyright protection provides benefits in the form of economic rights which entitle the creators to control use of their literary and artistic material in a number of ways such as making copies, performing in public, broadcasting, use on-line, etc. and to obtain an appropriate economic reward. Creators can therefore be rewarded for their creativity and investment. Effective copyright protection will afford the growth of the copyright-based industries, encourage creativity and contribute to economic growth. It is premised on this fact that in every jurisdiction, there is a legal regime for copyright protection. However, the existence of a legal right which the populace is ignorant of amounts to no right, hence this paper. This paper uses a doctrinal research methodology to critically examine the legal regime for copyright protection in Nigeria. It also traces the rationale for copyright protection, policy objectives of copyright protection, and discusses in details the sources of copyright laws in
Nigeria which are Statute, case law, common law, international law and regulations. It further examines what constitutes infringement and available criminal and civil remedies. This paper finds that the legal framework of copyright in Nigeria is defective because the statute did make provisions that can tackle present digital technology challenges and the penalty clause in the statute is also obsolete. This paper therefore recommends inter alia that the Copyright Act be amended to make provision for
stiffer penalties for copyright infringement and provision to tackle the present day technological challenges. It further recommends that Nigeria adopt a formal registration of copyright works like developed nations.
Key Words: Copyright, Technology, Legal, Protection, Nigeria, Creativity, Investment