Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Michael Paul

Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Michael Paul

NIPJD Citation	NIPJD/NG/FHC/2013/LF-CR-2-2013
Document Type	Case Record
Court	Federal High Court, Lafia Judicial Division
Charge No.	FHC/LF/CR/2/2013
Decision Date	3 October 2013
Jurisdiction	Nigeria
Area of Law	Copyright
Subject	Broadcast Piracy
Status	Conviction
Source Reliability	Official Government Publication

Case Summary

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) prosecuted Michael Paul before the Federal High Court in Lafia for broadcast piracy. According to the Nigerian Copyright Commission’s official list of convictions, Michael Paul was convicted on 3 October 2013 in Suit No. FHC/LF/CR/2/2013. The court sentenced him to pay ₦5,100 in lieu of imprisonment.

Available Information

Defendant: Michael Paul
Prosecuting agency: Nigerian Copyright Commission
Court: Federal High Court, Lafia Judicial Division
Suit No.: FHC/LF/CR/2/2013
Nature of offence: Copyright infringement; classified by the NCC as broadcast piracy
Work involved: Ije “The Journey”
Number of infringing copies: 51
Conduct: Exposing infringing copies for sale for the purpose of trade or business and possessing infringing copies without the copyright owner’s consent or authorization
Statutory provisions: Sections 20(2)(a) and 20(2)(c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004
Date of judgment: 3 October 2013
Outcome: Conviction
Penalty: ₦5,100, representing ₦100 for each of the 51 infringing copies
Additional order: Destruction of the infringing copies by the Nigerian Copyright Commission.

Why This Case Matters

Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Michael Paul provides an example of the criminal enforcement of copyright in Nigeria and the application of the penalty provisions of the Copyright Act to individual infringing copies.

The case is particularly useful because it provides information about how the ₦5,100 penalty was calculated: ₦100 for each of the 51 infringing copies. The court also ordered destruction of the infringing copies, illustrating the use of both a financial penalty and disposal of infringing materials following conviction.The case has subsequently been cited in Nigerian copyright scholarship as one of a group of Federal High Court convictions involving infringement of broadcast rights.

Related Cases

Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Joseph Daomi (FHC/MKD/CR/38/11) — broadcast piracy; conviction delivered on 27 February 2012.
Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Godwin Kadiri, FHC/B/43C/2010 — infringement of broadcast rights; judgment delivered on 17 December 2012.
Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Emordi Henry Chukwuma, FHC/ABJ/CR/90/2013 — broadcast piracy; judgment delivered on 19 June 2013.
FHC/LF/CR/11/2013 — another broadcast infringement prosecution decided in Lafia on 8 October 2013.

Sources

Related Research and Publications

Emmanuel Owushi, Protecting Copyright Owners in Nigeria: A Panacea for Intellectual Development (2020) — Examines copyright protection and enforcement in Nigeria, including the role of the Nigerian Copyright Commission and penalties for copyright offences. The paper discusses section 20(2)(d) of the Copyright Act concerning the possession, sale, hire and distribution of infringing copies.
“Evolution and Future Trends of Copyright in Nigeria,” Journal of Open Access to Law — refers to NCC v. Michael Paul in its discussion of Nigerian copyright enforcement and broadcast-rights cases.
“Fracturing Constitutional Rights: The Prosecution of Alleged Broadcast Infringers in Nigeria,” Journal of African Law — discusses NCC v. Michael Paul alongside other Nigerian prosecutions concerning alleged broadcast infringement.
An Overview of the Criminal Perspective of the Enforcement of Copyright in Nigeria — Adenike Lydia Ibijola (Fagoyinbo), LL.M. seminar paper, Faculty of Law, University of Benin, August 2016.
Promoting Disc Jockey (DJ) Business within the Bound of Media Ethics and Law in Nigeria — Stephen Nwanchor Elem, IAA Journal of Communication, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2019, pp. 155–172.