Section 32 Copyright Act

Section 32 Copyright Act 2022 is about Compulsory licence to reproduce and publish works for certain purposes. It is under Part III (Ownership, Transfers and Licences) of the Act.

(1) Where, after the expiration of the relevant period from the date of the first publication of an edition of a literary or artistic work —
(a) the copies of such edition are not made available in Nigeria ; or
(b) such copies have not been put on sale in Nigeria for a period of six months, by the owner of the right of reproduction or by any person authorised by him in that behalf to the general public, or in connection with systematic instructional activities at a price reasonably related to that normally charged
in Nigeria for comparable works,a qualified person may apply to the Commission for a licence to reproduce and publish the work in any form, for the purpose of systematic instructional activities, at the price for which such edition is sold or at a lower price.

(2) An application under this section shall be made in a prescribed form and shall state the proposed retail price of a copy of the work to be reproduced.

(3) An applicant for a licence under this section shall pay such fees as may be prescribed by the Commission.

(4) Where an application is made to the Commission under this section, the Commission may grant to the applicant a non-exclusive licence to produce and publish a reproduction of the work mentioned in the application subject to the conditions that —
(a) the applicant shall pay to the owner of the copyright in the work, royalties in respect of copies of the reproduction calculated at such rate as the Commission may, in the circumstances of each case determine as consistent with the standards for licences freely negotiated between persons
in Nigeria and owners of reproduction rights in their country ;

(b) the licence shall not extend to the export of copies of the reproduction of the work outside Nigeria ; and
(c) every copy of such reproduction shall contain a notice that the copy is available for distribution only in Nigeria.

(5) A licence shall not be granted by the Commission, except —
(a) the applicant has proved to the satisfaction of the Commission that he had requested and had been denied permission by the owner of the copyright to reproduce and publish such work, or that he was, after due diligence on his part, unable to find such owner ;

(b) where the applicant exercised due diligence and was unable to find the owner of the copyright and that he had sent a request for permission to the publisher whose name appears on the work, not less than three months before applying for the licence ;

(c) the applicant had at the time he submitted an application under this section informed any national or international information centre designated for this purpose by the government of the country in which
the publisher of the work to be reproduced is believed to have his principal place of business ;

(d) the Commission is satisfied that the applicant is competent to reproduce and publish an accurate reproduction of the work and possesses the means to pay to the owner of the copyright, the royalties required to be paid to him under this section ;

(e) the applicant undertakes to reproduce and publish the work at such price as may be fixed by the Commission at a price normally charged in Nigeria for similar works of the same standard ;

(f) a period of six months, in the case of an application for the reproduction and publication of any work of natural science, physical science, mathematics or technology or a period of three months in the case of an application for the reproduction and publication of any other work, has lapsed from the date of making the request under subsection (1)(a) or where a copy of the request has been sent under subsection (1)(b), from the date of sending of a copy and a reproduction of the work has not been published by the owner of the copyright in the work or any person authorised by him within a period of six months or three months, as the case may be ;

(g) the name of the author and the title of the particular edition of the work proposed to be reproduced are printed on all the copies of the reproduction ;
(h) the author has not withdrawn copies of the work from circulation ; and
(i) an opportunity of being heard is given by the Commission, wherever practicable, to the owner of the copyright in the work.

(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a licence to reproduce and publish translation of a work shall not be granted save such translation has been published by the owner of the right of translation in a language spoken in Nigeria.

(7) The provisions of sections 31 and 32 of this Act shall also apply to the reproduction and publication or translation into a language spoken in Nigeria, of any text incorporated in audio-visual fixations prepared and published solely for the purpose of systematic instructional activities.

(8) In this section “relevant period” in relation to any work, means a period of —
(a) seven years from the date of the first publication of a work in respect of fiction, poetry, drama, music or art ; and
(b) three years from the date of the first publication of a work in respect of natural science, physical science, mathematics or technology.