In its battle to curb the rising level of commercial piracy of Pay TV channels, the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) in pursuant to a complaint from MultiChoice, Nigeria’s leading provider of premium pay entertainment, embarked on an audit of the copyright compliance level of 10 commercial viewing centres in Surulere, Lagos State.
Speaking on the inspection, which took place over the weekend, the Assistant Director, Prosecutions, NCC, Mrs. Lynda Alphaeus, representing the Director-General of NCC, said the aim of the exercise was to sensitise business outfits (hotels, pubs, restaurants etc) utilising Pay TV services on the need to comply with the copyright laws regulating their operations and regularise their TV licences.
Mrs. Alphaeus expressed dissatisfaction that 90 per cent of commercial viewing centres in Surulere are yet to comply with the authorised DStv commercial bouquet for viewing centres, stating that the NCC would not relent in its effort to ensure a greater percentage of viewing centre owners convert to commercial bouquets accepted for commercial viewing.
According to the Assistant Director, Prosecutions, copyright laws outline the following as acts of piracy; Cable Piracy, Re-broadcasting Piracy, Commercial Piracy, and Circumvention Piracy.
She explained why NCC inspectors embarked on visit to viewing centres, saying; “The visual inspection was to check the level of compliance of the DStv commercial licence at viewing centres in the Lawanson, Surulere environs.”
It would be recalled that during the year, the NCC raided locations in Abuja and Benin for illegal distribution of DStv signal. It also raided 14 hotels in Lagos for commercial piracy, following which the hotel owners have responded positively by complying with the commercial bouquet option.
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