Copyright Act

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http://www.nigeria-law.org/CopyrightAct.htm

business or as supporting facility to a trade or business or as
supporting facility to a trade or business, any work in which copyright
subsists.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, or any other provision of this Act, where any
work in which copyright subsists or a production of any such work is comprised in(a) the archives stored in the National Archives established under the
Public Archives Act; or
(b) the public records of a State, being records for storage or custody
of which provision is made by law, the copyright in the work is not
infringed by the making or the supplying to any person, of any
reproduction of the work in pursuance of that Act or law.
15. (1) Subject to this Act, infringement of copyright shall be actionable at the suite of the owner, assignee or an
exclusive licensee of the copyright, as the case may be, in the Federal High Court exercising jurisdiction in the
place where the infringement occurred; and in any action for such infringement, all such relief by way of damages,
injunction, accounts or otherwise shall be available in any corresponding proceedings in respect of infringement of
other proprietary rights.
(2) Where an action of infringement of copyright brought by the copyright owner or an exclusive
licensee relates to an infringement in respect of which they have concurrent rights of action, the
copyright owner or the exclusive licensee may not, without the leave of court, proceed with the
action unless the other is either joined as a plaintiff or added as a defendant.
(3) Where in an action for infringement of copyright, it is proved or admitted that an infringement
was committed but that at the time of the infringement, the defendant was not aware and had no
reasonable grounds for suspecting that copyright subsisted in the work to which the action relates,
the plaintiff shall not be entitled under this section to any damages against the defendant in respect of
the infringement, but shall be entitled to an account of profits in respect of the infringement, whether
or not any other relief is granted under this section.
(4) Where an action under this section, an infringement of copyright is proved or admitted, and the
court in which the action is brought, having regard (apart from all other material considerations) to(a) the flagrancy of the infringement; and
(b) any benefit shown to have accrued to the defendant by reason of
the infringement,
is satisfied that effective relief would not otherwise be available to
the plaintiff, the court, in assessing damages for the infringement, shall
have power to award such additional damages by virtue of this
subsection as the court may consider appropriate in the circumstances.
(5) No injunction shall be issued in proceedings for infringement of copyright which requires
completed or partly completed building to be demolished or prevents the completion of a partly
completed building.
(6) In this section, "action" includes a counter-claim, and references to the plaintiff and to the
defendant in an action shall be construed accordingly.

16. All infringement copies of any work in which copyright subsists, or of any substantial part thereof, and all
plates, master tapes, machines, equipment or contrivances used, or intended to be used for the production of such
infringing copies shall be deemed to be the property of the owner, assignee or exclusive licensee, as the case may
be, of the copyright, who accordingly may take proceedings for the recovery of the possession thereof or in respect
of the conversion thereof.
17. (1) An infringement of the rights conferred by section 9 of this Act is actionable as a breach of statutory duty
owed to the person entitled to the right.

(2) In proceedings for infringement of the rights conferred by the said section 9 of this Act, the
person whose rights have been infringed shall be entitled to an award of damages, injunction and any
other remedies as the court may deem fit to award in the circumstances.
18. (1) Any person who-

(a) makes or causes to be made for sale, hire, or for the purpose of
trade or business any infringing copy of a work in which copyright
subsists; or

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