Nigerian Copyright Reform and Implications for Access to Teaching and Learning Materials (TLMs) in the Digital Age

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which the provisions of Nigeria’s draft Copyright Bill promote access to teaching and learning materials (TLMs), with such access framed as an important public interest goal. The article highlights the weaknesses in the extant Nigerian copyright statute with regard to TLM access, and examines the extent to which the provisions of the draft Bill would provide improvement. The article concludes that while the draft Bill provides significant improvements in respect of TLM access, it also contains significant weaknesses and gaps which Nigerian lawmakers should seek to address.

Keywords

• copyright
• access
• teaching and learning materials (tlms)
• public interest
• access to knowledge (a2k)
• nigeria
• copyright act
• draft copyright bill