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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has opened talks with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on modernising the Nigeria Copyright Registration System (NCRS), with a view to adopting WIPO’s Industrial Property Administration System (IPAS).
The initiative is designed to improve service delivery, strengthen the integrity of the national database, promote ease of doing business and enhance the administration of copyright in the country.
The Director-General of the NCC, Dr. John O. Asein disclosed this recently, while receiving a WIPO mission team led by Mr. Hisham Fayed, in the presence of members of the Commission’s management.
Aligning with PEBEC objectives, Dr. Asein said the reform must align copyright registration with the goals of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), particularly in improving efficiency, facilitating business operations and boosting revenue.
According to him, streamlined application and resolution processes would enhance the credibility of registration, while a reliable and verifiable database would reduce ownership disputes and serve as a useful reference for courts and district registries.
The exercise, he added, would also strengthen the Commission’s operational efficiency and institutional performance.
He commended WIPO for selecting Nigeria as a beneficiary of the programme, noting that the country was among the first in Africa to commence a copyright notification system.
He said that with the powers conferred on the Commission by the Copyright Act 2022 to make regulations, the NCC was determined to make its registration system more attractive through appropriate incentives.
“The biggest incentive is having a seamless and efficient system to reduce the burden on applicants,” he said.
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Dr. Asein explained that the WIPO mission would provide an opportunity for a comprehensive technical and operational assessment of the NCRS, identify its strengths and limitations and determine how the Commission could benefit from IPAS and other digital transformation tools.
Speaking on the mission, Mr. Fayed, Head of Global Delivery and Support of Automation Services at WIPO, described the engagement as a rapid response to the NCC’s request for technical support.
He said WIPO’s Intellectual Property Office Business Solutions Division provides automation services and business solutions to intellectual property offices across its member states.
He described Nigeria as an important partner, given its standing as one of Africa’s leading economies and the strength of its creative industries, adding that the size of the country and the diversity of its creative sector offered valuable lessons for WIPO in developing and deploying effective automation solutions.
Mr. Fayed said WIPO had, over the past two decades, expanded its automation technology beyond industrial property administration to include copyright services.
The latest version of IPAS, known as the Generic Registry, was designed specifically to meet copyright administration needs, offering flexibility in managing diverse bibliographic information and media formats, including literature and music.
It could also support other creative sectors, including traditional cultural expressions.
He identified the key objectives of the proposed digital transformation as reduced processing time, improved staff productivity, better service quality and accuracy and greater convenience and customer satisfaction.
The four-day mission, which began on November 9, comprises institutional engagement, preliminary and detailed technical assessments of the existing system and stakeholder consultations to evaluate user experience and identify gaps in service delivery.
It will also examine the relevance of IPAS to copyright administration in Nigeria and will culminate in the identification of areas for technical cooperation and the development of a practical implementation roadmap.
