They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. An Entertainment Lawyer, Rockson Igelige, said more still needed to be done by government to ensure that Intellectual Property (IP) creators were adequately rewarded for their efforts. He said “a workman they say deserves the fruit of his wages, but this is yet to be the case in the creative industry. “People will work hard to create a product, only to be duplicated and ripped by others; this is really very bad for the sector. “The relevant government institutions need to still do more for people’s creative rights to be adequately protected.” Igelige stressed the need for the enactment of laws “to effectively check piracy in this digital age. He noted that piracy had gone digital because of the emergence of the Internet, “and this makes trans-border piracy even more possible. “Adequate laws that can effectively check these trends must urgently be in place if we really want to protect the sector.,” he stated. Mr Tony Okoroji, the Chairman of the Copyrights Society of Nigeria (COSON), said that the music industry was especially a major contributor to the creative sector in Nigeria, and therefore needed adequate protection. He said “we should not just mark the day without paying necessary attention to the problem facing the music sector which is piracy. “Government must do more in fighting piracy, so that artistes can enjoy the benefits of their creativity,’’ Okoroji said. The World International Property Organisation (WIPO) in the year 2000 declared April 26 of every year as World Intellectual Property Day. It is to publicise and to learn about the role that intellectual property rights (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyright) play in encouraging innovation and creativity. As Nigeria joined the rest of the world in marking the day, stakeholders said that the essence was yet to be felt in the nation’s creative industry. (NAN)]]>