The Federal High Court, Uyo, has sentenced one Chinonso Ugochukwu to two years in jail having convicted him on a two-count charge of selling infringing books, including Bibles, in which copyright subsists and for being in possession of infringing books other than for private or domestic use.
In a judgement delivered on July 1 in charge No. FHC/UY/53C/15, Justice F. O. Riman convicted Mr. Ugochukwu of violation of sections 20(2) (a) and 20 (2)(c) of the Copyright Act, 2004 and sentenced him to one-year imprisonment on each of the two counts with the option of fine.
The convict, who was arraigned on November 17, 2016, pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge and was diligently prosecuted by Emeka Ogbonna Esq and Alubo Inalegwu Esq for the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC). The defence counsel was C I Odoh Esq.
Following investigation of a petition to the NCC by the Bible Society of Nigeria (BSN) dated 18th June 2014 alleging infringement of its works, the Uyo Office of the agency embarked on an anti-piracy operation on August 13, 2014 at Eket in which two shops belonging to the convict were raided and pirated Bibles and other infringing copyright protected works were seized.
Director-general of the NCC John Asein, in his remarks, indicated that the Federal Government is in the process of reviewing the Copyright Act to make penalties for copyright infringement more stringent to serve as effective deterrence to prospective pirates.
He reiterated the commitment of the commission to proactive enforcement and diligent prosecution with a view to protecting the copyright of authors.
Mr Asein stated that Ugochukwu’s conviction signalled the commission’s renewed drive in implementation of its zero-tolerance policy against copyright piracy across the country.
