Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Ndidi Agwu

Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Ndidi Agwu


NIPJD Citation	NIPJD/FHC/2012/FHC-B-61C-12
Document Type	Case Record
Court	Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division
Suit No.	FHC/B/61C/12
Decision Date	26 June 2012
Jurisdiction	Nigeria
Area of Law	Copyright
Subject	Sound Recording Piracy; Cinematograph Film Piracy
Status	Conviction
Source Reliability	Official Government Publication

Case Summary

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) prosecuted Ndidi Agwu before the Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division, for offences involving sound recording and cinematograph film piracy.

According to official publications issued by the Nigerian Copyright Commission, the court convicted the defendant on 26 June 2012 in Suit No. FHC/B/61C/12. The Commission reported that the prosecution was conducted by Chief Copyright Officer Mike Okezie Madueke, Esq., that no defence counsel appeared, and that the defendant was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine. However, the Commission’s later published List of Convictions from 2011 records the sentence as ten months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine. The reason for this discrepancy has not yet been established.

Available Information

Based on the available official publications, the following information has been confirmed:

Defendant: Ndidi Agwu
Prosecuting agency: Nigerian Copyright Commission
Court: Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division
Suit No.: FHC/B/61C/12
Nature of offence: Sound recording and cinematograph film piracy
Date of judgment: 26 June 2012
Outcome: Conviction
Prosecution counsel: Chief Copyright Officer Mike Okezie Madueke, Esq.
Defence counsel: None reported
Sentence: Official NCC publications contain conflicting information:
- NCC Noticeboard (June 2012): Six months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine.
- NCC List of Convictions from 2011: Ten months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine.

Why This Case Matters

This case forms part of the Nigerian Copyright Commission’s anti-piracy enforcement activities in 2012. It is also noteworthy because two official Nigerian Copyright Commission publications report different custodial sentences for the same conviction. Until the court judgment or other official court records are obtained, it cannot be confirmed whether the defendant was sentenced to six months or ten months’ imprisonment. This Case Record therefore preserves both versions of the official record for future verification.

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Sources