Collecting Society in the Administration of Copyright Law in Nigeria: An Appraisal

Abstract

Infringement on copyright works has been on the increase in Nigeria, particularly, book, music, and film piracy. This has greatly militated against the rights of copyright owners depriving them of benefiting from the fruits of their labor and nothing to show in terms of return on investments. Consequently, there is the need to have a solid collective management structure in place as provided in S.39 of the copyright Act 2004. The establishment of collecting society also known as Collective Management Organization is very important and useful to right owners for the collection and sharing of royalties, granting of licenses, monitoring of users and taking steps to enforce rights where necessary. Having gone through textbooks, case laws, statutes, and internet materials, it is clear that collecting society is necessary in the administration of Copyright. Many collecting societies should be established for fair competition, effective and efficient management of the rights of Copyright owners. This will prevent the risk of monopoly to a collecting society.