…As Youth Associates Decadence To Lack Of Reading Culture
As the world marks this year’s World Book and Copyrights Day, youths and aspiring authors have been advised not to water down the original contents of the intellectual property of writers and publishers, but help promote the value of their works in the society.
This remark was made by a Port Harcourt based author and educationist, Eze Nnamedi. He expressed fear that the issue of copyrights violation was yet to be adequately addressed in the Nigerian society. According to him , some progress may have been made but without implementing enabling laws to the letter, the challenge of copyrights violation would remain. He argued that if the challenges persist at the level is it presently, Nigerian authors will continue to be endangered species.
He said: “Those who have the intellectual property are using it to meet immediate needs, they have no other source. Those who use another person’s works must work within the ‘tenets of fair use’ of someone else’s intellectual property.”
He lamented that many people seek to reproduce literary books without due authorization of the copyrights owner who is the author or publisher.
The World Book and Copyrights Day is marked every April 23 to pay tributes to books and their authors as well as increase peoples’ understanding of the copyrights laws.
In a separate interview, an undergraduate Theatre Arts student of the University of Port Harcourt UNIPORT, Ebiwari Daniel has challenged Nigerian youths, undergraduates and society at large to imbibe reading culture. He noted that the standard of education has continued to nosedived in the face of ebbing reading culture.
Ebiwari Daniel stated that: “This year’s World Book Day has turned the eye of the world, especially Nigerians on the need to revive the reading culture.” According to him, Nigerians preferred surfing the internet to a thorough research which he noted was a product of consistent study.
He also noted that moral decadence and anti-social behaviours among the youths came as a result of apathy towards reading. “For me, reading shows you are a disciplined person and it will help you maintain your focus on your goals.”
