Copyright Act
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http://www.nigeria-law.org/CopyrightAct.htm
36. (1) The owner of a copyright in any published literary, artistic or musical work or sound recording, may give
notice in writing to the Department of Customs and Excise (in this section referred to as "the Department")
(a) that he is the owner of the copyright in the work; and
(b) that he requests the Department during the period specified in the
notice, to treat as prohibited goods, copies of the work to which this
section applies:
Provided that the period specified in a notice under this subsection
shall not exceed five years and shall not exceed beyond the end of the
period for which the copyright is to subsist.
(2) This section applies, in the case of a work, to any printed copy outside Nigeria which if it had
been made in Nigeria, would be an infringement copy of the work.
(3) Where a notice has been given under this section in respect of a work and has not been
withdrawn, the importation into Nigeria, at a time before the end of the period specified in the
notice, of any copy of the work to which this section applies shall, subject to the following
provisions of this section, be prohibited:
Provided that this subsection shall not apply to the importation of any article by a person for his
private and domestic use.
(4) Where a notice is given under subsection (1) of this section in respect of any work, neither the
Department nor any member, officer, servant or agent of the Department shall be liable to the owner
of the work or to any other person for any act or omission by the department or its servants or agents
in relation to the notice:
Provided that, where the owner has suffered loss as a result of any such act or omission and a fee has
been paid or is payable to the Department in respect of the notice, an amount equal to the loss or to
the amount of the fee for one year, whichever is less, shall be repaid by the Department to the owner
or, if the fee has been paid, shall be waived.
(5) The Minister of Internal Affairs may make regulations prescribing the form in which notices are
to be given under this section, and requiring a person giving such notice, either at the time of giving
the notice are at the time when the goods in question are imported, or at both of those times, to
furnish the Department with such evidence, and to comply with such other conditions (if any), as may
be specified in the regulations; and any such regulations may include such incidental and
supplementary provisions as the Minister of Internal Affairs considers expedient for the purposes of
this section.
(6) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (5) of this section, regulations made under that
subsection may include provisions for requiring a person who has given a notice purporting to be a
notice under this section to pay such fee in respect of the notice as may be prescribed by the
regulations.
(7) For the purposes of the Customs and Excise Management Act any fee paid in pursuance of any
regulations made under this section shall be treated as money collected on account of the
Department.
(8) Notwithstanding anything in the Customs and Excise Management Act, a person shall not be
liable to any penalty under that Act (other than forfeiture of the goods) by reason that any goods are
treated as prohibited goods by virtue of this section.
(9) This section shall have effect as if it formed part of the Customs and Excise Management Act.
37. (1) Where no other provisions is made in that behalf, the Minister may make Regulations prescribing anything
required to be prescribed for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Regulations may be made-
(a) in the case of works, the copyright in which is vested in the
Government, by the Minister with the prior consent of the National
Council of Ministers; and
(b) in the case of works, the copyright in which is vested in a State
authority, by the State Authority or a person designated by the State
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