Some Nollywood practitio
ners last Tuesday urged the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to do more to protect the intellectual property rights of artists in the entertainment industry.
The artists who made the plea in interviews with the Press in Lagos said the commission needed to be proactive in the discharge of its duty.
Veteran thespian, Jide Kosoko, told Journalists that the NCC ought to review some of its policies and laws to make them stiffer for offenders.
Kosoko said that some laws by the commission were weak, thereby giving room for criminals to carry out their unlawful activities.
“The commission should make the laws stiffer for copyright offenders.
“They should also set up anti-piracy squad within the commission to assist it in discharging its duties effectively,’’ the actor said.
He said that entertainment practitioners had over the time appealed for support against the piracy scourge but to no avail.
He said the commission must be adequately funded and with the requisite personnel to make an appreciable impact against piracy phenomenon.
In the same vein, Moji Olaiya, an actress, urged the NCC to go all-out to arrest and prosecute those that are engaged in copyright infringement.
Olaiya added that by so doing the nefarious act would be curbed.
“Pirates are the major obstacle affecting the development of the industry.
“If the punishment given to copyright offenders are stiffer, it will reduce the activities of pirates in the industry,’’ Olaiya said.
Another veteran thespian, Dele Alexander, told Journalists that even though the commission had been at the forefront of the battle, they needed to modify their approach.
“Pirates have financial backing to carry out their unlawful act which serves as a threat to copyright owners.
“If the situation is left unchecked the entertainment industry will soon go into extinction,’’ the actor said.
Meanwhile, Mr Chris Nkwocha, the Lagos Zonal Coordinator of NCC, said that in spite of the doubts expressed by some stakeholders, the organisation had been working hard to curtail the scourge.
Nkwocha told newsmen that the primary mandate of the NCC was to enforce and prosecute copyright offenders, and that the body was striving hard to cleanse the land of piracy.
“The commission has been at the forefront of tackling and eradicating piracy in the society but will improve more in discharging it duties efficiently,’’ he said.
Nkwocha said that the commission would not relent in the fight to reduce piracy to the barest minimum.
Meanwhile, the National President of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artists (SONTA), Prof. Sunday Ododo,  described piracy as the greatest challenge in Nigeria’s film industry popularly known as Nollywood.
He stated this in his welcome address at the 28th Annual International Conference of SONTA in Abuja.
Ododo said the full economic benefits of the industry would only be realised when the battle against piracy was won.
He added that “piracy is Nollywood’s greatest headache that needs to be specially tackled.
“When this battle against piracy is won, Nollywood and its economic benefits shall have stronger footing and genuine impact on our economy.
“The battle against piracy should be supported by all so that stakeholders in Nollywood are not denied the benefits of their creativity.’’
He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to extend its current anti-corruption crusade to the film industry.
He said “President Muhammadu Buhari’s determined fight against corruption is commendable and it should not start and end with government officials only.
“Corrupt practices in the private sector should also receive due attention, and piracy is one of such.
“If the present government is to go far in its change mission and national reorientation, the answer is Nollywood.
“Repositioning the Nigerian film industry to play key role in character transformation, national consciousness should be the overall interest of all Nigerians.’’
Earlier, Mrs Nkechi Ejele, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, said that although Nollywood was already a success story, there was still a lot to benefit from it.
She, therefore, pledged government’s support in the development of Nollywood and other aspects of the creative industry in the country.
The theme of the three-day conference is “Repositioning Nollywood For the Promotion of Nigeria’s Cultural Diplomacy and National Security.’’