Appraisal of Fair Dealing Abuses, Copyright Infringement and Plagiarism in Nigeria

Abstract

The advent of the digital era and information age has opened a floodgate for access to information 
for research purposes and private study. This phenomenon has also increased the rate at which 
researchers are able to copy other author's works and abuse the privilege of the fair dealing doctrine 
provided in section 20(1) of the Nigerian Copyright Act (NCA) 2022. Using the doctrinal 
approach, this paper examined how the abuses of the fair dealing doctrine has resulted in the twin 
vices of copyright infringement and plagiarism. The paper examined the differences between 
copyright infringement and plagiarism, and whether they coalesce under the NCA 2022. It was 
found that by requiring 'acknowledgement' or attribution of copyrighted works for the application 
of the fair dealing doctrine under section 20(1) of the NCA 2022, the new Act has effectively 
merged both copyright infringement and plagiarism under our law, especially in view of the 
enforceability of moral rights under section 14 of the Act.