Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Okereke Uchenna

Nigerian Copyright Commission v. Okereke Uchenna

NIPJD Citation: NIPJD/FHC/2012/FHC-B-58C-12


Document Type	Case Record
Court	Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division
Suit No.	FHC/B/58C/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 Okereke Uchenna 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 and sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine. The Commission also reported that the prosecution was conducted by Chief Copyright Officer Mike Okezie Madueke, Esq., and that no defence counsel appeared.

The full judgment has not yet been located.

Available Information

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

Defendant: Okereke Uchenna
Prosecuting agency: Nigerian Copyright Commission
Court: Federal High Court, Benin Judicial Division
Suit No.: FHC/B/58C/12
Nature of offence: Sound recording and cinematograph film piracy
Date of judgment: 26 June 2012
Outcome: Conviction
Sentence: Six months’ imprisonment without the option of a fine
Prosecution counsel: Chief Copyright Officer Mike Okezie Madueke, Esq.
Defence counsel: None reported.

Why This Case Matters

This case forms part of the Nigerian Copyright Commission’s copyright enforcement activities in 2012. The reported custodial sentence, imposed without the option of a fine, illustrates that imprisonment was used in some copyright piracy prosecutions during this period. This observation is based solely on the official publications and not on the court’s reasoning.

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Sources