ABSTRACT
The law on intellectual property which is properly referred to as IP Law connotes that aspect of law is designated towards protecting the innovations and works of any man from violations from other persons. This protection is possible by the conferment of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) on the creators and owners of these works. By virtue of these rights, the creators or owners of the work are invested with an intangible right to the exclusive use of the intellectual property, an infringement of which entitles them to a right of action against the infringer. From its nature, there is no doubt that the essence of Intellectual Property Law is to encourage innovation, originality, creativity, and ingenuity by ensuring that only owners and creators of works get to exploit the works for economic benefits, and give them a right of action against persons who try to utilize these rights without due authorization from the intellectual property owner. Intellectual property is broadly classified into 4 categories namely; copyright, trademark, patent and industrial secrets. The aspect of copyright seems to be the most popular form of intellectual property, attributed to the fact that it is associated with literature and arts. This form of IP is expressed as literary works, artistic works, audio – visual works, sound – recording, broadcasting, expression of folklore, image rights and performance rights under the law. It can be defined as a set of exclusive rights granted by government for a limited time to protect the particular form, way or manner in which an idea or information is expressed. Thus, the protection of copyright is one of the focuses of intellectual property, and the main purpose for copyright protection is to ensure due fairness to authors and owners of work, ensuring that they have exclusive right to the exploitation of their intellectual creation. Also, copyright protection promotes individual initiative and serves as an incentive for creation. Therefore, it is no shock, that in many jurisdictions, effective and efficient frameworks are put in place to guarantee the protection of copyrights. Thus, this long essay shall evaluate the framework put in place to guarantee the protection of copyright under the 2022 Copyright Act. To achieve this, it shall establish what copyright protection connotes as well as its rationale. In addition, the attitude of the courts towards the protection of copyright shall be looked at in this long essay as well as the inadequacies and challenges to the protection of copyright under the Act. Conclusively, positive recommendations will be made on the issue.
