Says widespread reproduction of textbooks often deprives writers of financial benefits

The Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) has urged universities, polytechnics and colleges of education to adopt its licensing programme to protect authors’ intellectual property and ensure they receive royalties from the photocopying of their published works.

A board member of the Society, Dr Wale Okediran, made the call during an engagement with heads of tertiary institutions and other stakeholders in the South-South geopolitical zone.

Okediran said that many Nigerian authors were unaware that they could earn additional income when their books were photocopied, lamenting that widespread reproduction of textbooks often deprived writers of financial benefits.

“Many writers don’t know that. They still have other sources of making money in that book or script,” he said.

He said that the Society would work with tertiary institutions to establish licensing arrangements based on estimated photocopying activities rather than attempting to monitor individual business centres.

“What we are trying to do is that in every university, college of education or polytechnic, we will appoint officers in charge of this copyright,” he said.

The designated officers, he added, would serve as contact persons between the institutions and the Society, using a mobile application to register, provide information and facilitate the licensing process.

Okediran said some institutions had already begun the process, expressing optimism that more would make progress within two to three weeks.

He, however, said that institutions would be given time to comply, potentially until the end of the year.

He, therefore, warned that unauthorised reproduction of copyright works could attract legal action, adding that the Society intends to prioritise sensitisation and voluntary compliance.

“We are not intending to punish anybody,” he said, adding that university lecturers, who authored textbooks, would also benefit financially from the programme.

Okediran, while citing Ghana as an example, said that the country generated more than $100,000 yearly from reprographic rights, saying that Nigeria could unlock similar benefits for authors.

He said the initiative would also cover indigenous-language writers and traditional poets whose creative works were reproduced without compensation.

Okediran, who urged aspiring writers not to abandon their literary ambitions because of unauthorised photocopying, also appealed for a balance between students’ financial difficulties and authors’ rights, acknowledging that some students photocopied textbooks because they could not afford original copies.

Also speaking, a board member of REPRONIG and former Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Camillus Ukah, said the Society was prepared to address copyright infringement involving books registered on its platform.

However, Director of Academic Planning, Research and Control, University of Port Harcourt and Vice President of ANA, Prof. Obari Gomba, in his welcome address, said the sensitisation was timely, calling for concerted effort to end theft of intellectual property.