Awareness of Copyright Laws among Select Nigerian University Students

Copyright laws have been in existence in Nigeria since independence and gone through several reviews. Although the policy of “permitted use” in the copyright law allows the reproduction of publications for educational and private use, studies have shown that students of tertiary institutions infringe on the copyright law. This study investigated the extent to which university students, precisely, Nnamdi Azikiwe University undergraduate students are aware of copyright laws. We used the survey research method to study a sample size of 400 drawn from a student population of over thirty thousand. Questionnaire was administered as instrument for data collection. Results revealed that most of these students were aware of copyright laws and the consequences of violating the law, yet compliance with the law was low among them. It was also revealed that even though photocopying is the number one activity which violates copyright laws on campuses of tertiary institutions, not much is being done to enforce the law. Keywords: Copyright laws, photocopying, publications, promotion of knowledge DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/86-19 Publication date:June 30th 201