Introduction:
Copyright refers to rights an author has in a created work. Every author seeks to exploit their work and the right to exploit such work or derivatives thereof are granted exclusively to the autho/creator of that work. Copyright is codified and in Nigeria, the principal legislation is the Copyright Act.
Brief History:
Copyright Law was born in the wake of a technological revolution - the invention of print in Europe - which enabled the mass dissemniation of information. In that age and as it is now, information was crucial and a British law like the Licensing of the Press Act of 1662, prevented the printing of "seditious, treasonable, and unlicensed Books and Pamphlets" and the regulation of Printing and Printing Pressses.