The Federal Government has called for stronger collaboration among copyright regulators, security agencies, telecommunications operators, digital platforms and other stakeholders to tackle the growing threat of online piracy and protect Nigeria’s creative and digital economy.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, made the call on Monday in Abuja at the National Seminar on Copyright, Cybersecurity and Nigeria’s Creative and Digital Economy.
The seminar, organised by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), was held at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, with the theme: “Protecting Nigeria’s Creative Economy and Digital Infrastructure against Online Piracy.”
Fagbemi said the increasing sophistication and borderless nature of digital piracy had made it difficult for copyright authorities to address the problem alone, stressing the need for a coordinated national response.
He said such a response must involve government institutions, security and law-enforcement agencies, telecommunications operators, internet service providers, digital platforms, broadcasters, payment gateways, domain registries and rights holders.
According to him, Nigeria’s creative industry has recorded significant growth, with its music, films, literature, broadcasting, software, fashion and other creative works gaining international recognition.
He noted that digital technology had accelerated the growth of the sector by creating new opportunities for content creation, distribution and commercial exploitation, but had also exposed creators and investors to increasingly sophisticated forms of copyright infringement.
The minister said online piracy had evolved beyond the traditional physical reproduction of creative works, with infringing content now reproduced, modified and distributed globally within seconds through illegal streaming platforms, pirate websites and unauthorised digital services.
He added that perpetrators often operated across multiple jurisdictions, making it difficult to identify their real identities, technical infrastructure and financial networks.
Fagbemi said the challenge had become more serious because copyright infringement increasingly intersected with organised cybercrime, e-commerce vulnerabilities and threats to the integrity of digital infrastructure.
He said the Copyright Act, 2022 had established a modern statutory framework for protecting and enforcing copyright in Nigeria, but stressed that the effectiveness of the law depended on strong implementation and appropriate institutional, technological and procedural arrangements.
The minister urged participants to move beyond identifying challenges and focus on developing practical, sustainable solutions to strengthen the country’s copyright enforcement architecture.
He specifically called for stronger inter-agency coordination, real-time intelligence sharing and deeper engagement between copyright authorities, internet service providers and digital platforms.
He also advocated standardised and lawful procedures for the prompt removal and blocking of infringing content online.
Fagbemi urged stakeholders to deploy advanced technologies to detect, disrupt and prevent online piracy while ensuring that enforcement measures remained consistent with the rule of law, constitutional due process and the protection of legitimate digital businesses.
A major outcome expected from the seminar is the development of the Abuja Copyright Action Plan, which Fagbemi described as an important operational framework for Nigeria’s response to online piracy.
He said the Action Plan must go beyond being a statement of intent by identifying priority actions, assigning clear institutional responsibilities and establishing mechanisms for continuous monitoring, evaluation and enforcement.
“Simply put, we must transition decisively from policy discussion to practical execution,” Fagbemi said.
He added that regulatory, statutory and operational gaps must be identified, while institutions assigned responsibilities must take ownership of implementing agreed measures.
The minister said the initiative was consistent with the Federal Government’s broader objectives of economic diversification, digital transformation, innovation, investment promotion and youth empowerment.
He further said the Federal Ministry of Justice remained committed to strengthening the regulatory and administrative frameworks required to boost investor confidence in Nigeria’s creative economy.
Fagbemi said the government’s long-term objective was to establish what he described as “safe corridors” for copyrighted works, providing secure, transparent and accountable channels through which creative content could be produced, licensed, distributed and monetised.
He also commended the NCC for strengthening its enforcement activities against online piracy.
According to him, the Commission, working with security agencies and private-sector partners, had undertaken takedown and domain-blocking operations against pirate platforms, apprehended suspects and initiated criminal prosecutions.
He called on rights holders, internet service providers, telecommunications operators and digital platforms to deepen their cooperation with the NCC.
Fagbemi said service providers must safeguard the integrity of their platforms, rights owners should make greater use of legal and technological tools, enforcement agencies should share intelligence, regulators should ensure legal predictability, while private-sector operators should strengthen legitimate distribution networks.
The Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, Dr. John O. Asein, said enforcement efforts and technological interventions were beginning to have an impact on online piracy.
Asein, who spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the seminar, said a 2019 estimate had placed the amount being lost to piracy in Nigeria’s creative industry at about $3 billion.
He, however, said the Commission would require a fresh empirical study before providing a current estimate.
“I can say for certain that the numbers have gone down, but I wouldn’t pick on figures unless there’s an empirical basis for that,” Asein said.
He said the NCC was now at the point where it needed to measure the current level of piracy and determine the impact of the Copyright Act, 2022 on the creative industry.
Asein explained that the damage caused by piracy extended beyond direct financial losses, as weak copyright protection could discourage people from entering the creative industry and undermine investor confidence.
He said creators would have little incentive to invest in their work if they could not effectively monetise their intellectual property.
The NCC boss also warned that countries with weak copyright enforcement could become attractive operating environments for foreign-based piracy networks.
He cited the case of the MovieBox platform, which he said was operated by individuals in Asia but had used a .ng domain, giving the impression that it was a Nigerian platform.
According to him, the Commission succeeded in bringing down the .ng domain, after which the operators moved their activities to the Philippines.
Asein said the development demonstrated the need for Nigeria to establish effective regulatory and enforcement guardrails to prevent its digital infrastructure from being exploited by international piracy networks.
He said the impact of enforcement could also be seen in complaints from consumers who previously accessed free music and movies through unauthorised platforms.
“Some sectors have come to us and complained that where they used to get free music, it’s been blocked. And we say, well, then go to the proper channels to get music,” he said.
He added that similar complaints had been received from people who previously accessed free movies through pirate websites.
According to him, such developments indicated that enforcement measures were disrupting piracy channels and creating greater incentives for consumers to use legitimate platforms.
Asein further stressed that technology had changed the nature of copyright enforcement, making it possible to identify and disrupt infringements on a scale that was difficult to achieve during the analogue era.
He also warned that the expansion of digital streaming and mobile technology meant that copyright protection was increasingly relevant to telecommunications companies and other digital service providers.
He said telcos and other technology companies were becoming important carriers and distributors of creative content, making copyright compliance essential to the sustainability of the digital economy.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has also pledged continued support for Nigeria’s efforts to combat online piracy and strengthen its intellectual property protection framework.
In a goodwill message at the seminar, Dr. Moody Oluwatobiloba, representing WIPO, said Nigeria’s creative and digital economy had become one of the country’s major assets, citing the global growth of Nigerian music and Nollywood.
He said the digital transformation of the creative sector had fundamentally changed the scale and nature of copyright infringement.
According to him, online piracy was no longer merely about the unauthorised distribution of creative works, as illicit digital platforms could also expose users to malware, facilitate identity concealment and undermine the integrity of digital infrastructure.
Dr. Moody said the theme of the seminar was therefore timely because it brought together copyright, cybersecurity and national security considerations.
He said combating online piracy required more than enforcement, stressing the importance of capacity building, technical assistance, technology and sustained public awareness on respect for intellectual property.
He commended Nigeria for modernising its copyright framework through the Copyright Act, 2022, noting that WIPO had supported the process and remained committed to working with Nigeria.
According to him, the priority now was to translate the legal framework into practical and operational strategies capable of addressing the realities of digital piracy.
Dr. Moody said the WIPO Nigeria Office was ready to support the NCC and other stakeholders through its global technical tools and programmes.
He highlighted WIPO ALERT, a platform that enables authorised national bodies to share information about websites and applications identified as infringing copyright, allowing authorised advertising-sector users to avoid placing advertisements on such platforms.
He also cited WIPO’s Building Respect for IP (BRIP) framework, which promotes awareness, training and sustainable respect for intellectual property.
Dr. Moody disclosed that WIPO had also launched a national project the previous year focused on developing strategies and tools to combat online piracy.
He urged participants at the seminar to engage fully in the technical sessions and roundtable discussions to ensure that the proposed Abuja Copyright Action Plan and inter-agency roadmap translated into concrete national action.
He said the fight against online piracy was a shared responsibility requiring sustained cooperation among government agencies, rights holders, technology companies, law-enforcement bodies and the creative industry.
