Enhancing intellectual productivity through copyright: A survey of tertiary institutions in Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examined copyright as an enhancing tool for intellectual productivity in tertiary institutions in Niger State, Nigeria. The research design used is survey. Purposive (judgemental) sampling technique was used to select seven (7) out of 12 higher institutions of learning that are in Niger State. The institutions selected were picked on the basis of: their relevance to the study; students’ population; and years of establishment. The researchers used two (2) self-designed questionnaire instruments tagged “Enhancing intellectual productivity” to collect data for the study. The first instrument tagged “Enhancing intellectual productivity O” was administered to forty (40) copyright owners while the second instrument tagged “Enhancing intellectual productivity S” was administered to 700 students in the selected institutions. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) was used to analyse the collected data. Part of the findings of the research is that violation of copyright through photocopying was more pronounced among the students in lower classes in all the institutions studied. Moreover, copyright holders are lopsided in the senior lectureship positions than in any other academic positions in the surveyed institutions. Moreover, 74.4% of the copyright holders affirmed that their work were involved in copyright abuse and that their work have suffered low sale due to illegal reprography in form of photocopying between 2009 and 2014. The study concluded that if properly handled, copyright would enhance intellectual productivity among right owners, researchers and inventors in higher institutions of learning and similar academic/ vocational organizations in Niger State and in Nigeria at large. It is recommended amongst other that intellectual property law should be made a core course in all higher institution in Nigeria and that all operators of photocopying centres should be made to open register for all photocopied items for adequate financial compensation to right owners.