Man arraigned for alleged book piracy

Man arraigned for alleged book piracy.

A middle aged man, Olumide Ayeni, was on Wednesday arraigned at a Federal High Court in Ibadan for alleged copyright infringement of 670 copies of various secondary school textbooks.

Ayeni pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge of unlawful production and theft of books instituted against him.

Justice Uche Agomoh admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N500, 000 with one reliable surety in like sum.

Agomoh ordered that the surety must be a civil servant living within the court’s jurisdiction.

The Judge also ordered Ayeni to produce evidence of tax payment within the last six months as part of the bail conditions.

She ordered him to be remanded in a Correctional Centre for failure to fulfill the bail conditions.

Agomoh adjourned the matter until March 22 for commencement of trial.

Earlier, counsel to the Nigeria Copyright Commission, Mrs Adeola Olatayo, said the defendant was arrested sometime in 2021 after the commission had received intelligence reports that Ayeni was illegally storing up books in his warehouse for sale.

Olatayo said thorough evaluation of the books revealed that all the 670 copies found in his possession were pirated.

According to the prosecutor, many copies of secondary school textbooks such as; English, Mathematics, Basic Science and other textbooks were found in Ayeni’s possession.

She told the court that the defendant was illegally benefiting from the effort of various authors.

Olatayo said the offence contravened the provisions of section 20 of Copyright Act 2004.