The Nigerian Copyrights Commission, NCC said Nigeria was losing three billion dollars annually due to activities of pirates.
Director-General, DG, of the commission, Mr John Asein, who made the disclosure at the 2019 World Intellectual Property Day in Abuja on Friday lamented the existence of illegal websites streaming sporting and entertainment contents in real time.
He further lamented that the advent of technology had made the task of sport-related copyright more daunting.
The DG, who was represented by the Director, Legal Services, Mr Abdul TerKohol, called on government to put in place adequate, responsive and effective legal frameworks for the protection and enforcement of sporting and associated industries rights.
He said: “Thousands of websites that illegally stream sporting and entertainment content in real time threaten the copyright in content.
“For full potential of the sporting ad associated industries to be realised, countries must put in place adequate, responsive and effective legal frameworks for the protection, administration and enforcement of rights.
“The intellectual property system, especially copyright, offers a practical and effective mechanism for achieving this.’’
READ ALSO: Army Redeploys NYSC DG, Others
Asein stressed that intellectual property, particularly copyright, was at the core of the commercial exploitation of sports and contributed substantially to the growth of a community of players and fans whose net worth was more than 300 billion dollars.
According to him, Nigeria occupied a unique place in the world of sports considering its exploits and remarkable achievements in various sporting events.
He called for support from stakeholders to assist government build a functional copyright system that would bring about the expected dividends to right owners and guarantee sustainable development of sports.
The DG said the commission was ready to partner with interested stakeholders to promote respect for intellectual property and “complement government’s commitment to growing human capital in today’s knowledge-driven economy.”
Director, Public Affairs of the commission, Mr Chukwuemeka Ngene, said the day was significant in that it helped raise global awareness on the nature, contribution and importance of intellectual property.
The theme of this year’s World Intellectual Property Day is “‘Reach for Gold’: IP and Sports.’’
