Appraisal Of Copyright Law Awareness Among Students On The Internet Publications

The study is an appraisal of copyright law awareness among students on the internet publications among undergraduate students of University of Ibadan, with the objectives of assessing the level of infringement of internet contents; finding out the level of awareness of copyright infringement; investigating the factors responsible for copy right infringement; and accessing the impact of social media on copyright infringement. The survey research design was adopted for the study. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 171 final year students of distance learning programme. The questionnaire was the instrument used for collecting data. The data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics, including percentages and frequencies. Findings showed that the level of copyright infringement of electronic contents was very high (above 80%). Lack of awareness, ignorance, academic work pressure, dearth of study materials, influence of social network and inability to acquire necessary reading materials were the factors that promote copyright infringement. It was recommended that copyright courses should be designed and offered by all undergraduate students to create enlightenment. University authority, through the various faculty and departmental libraries, should subscribe to relevant online books and journals which should be made available to all students.

Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

The capacity and ability to think critically, logically and analytically as well as generate novel ideas are among the legacies a university education bequeaths on its recipients after graduation. The purpose therefore for attaining university education is to produce creative and original thinkers who can contribute meaningfully to the development of the society (Babalola, 2012). However, beneficiaries (users) of information sources seem not to be aware of regulations guiding such usage, the legal implications, culpability and punishments as a result of infringements. The negative increase in academic copyright infringement is worrisome because it is eating deep into the fabric of university students and making the noble mission of university education a mirage. The act of piracy, violates people"s intellectual property rights, undermines the principles of honesty, trust, fairness, respect and sense of responsibility. Furthermore, it devalues the integrity of academic qualifications and discourages creativity and uniqueness.

The academic environment is a place where knowledge is shared, transferred and impacted through teaching and learning which must be done in accordance with basic rules, principles and standards. The basic rules are embedded in polices and rules which illustrate and create awareness.There is never a time than now to investigate students" awareness of copyright laws and what constitute copyright infringement, factors responsible for the prevalence of the practice in order to effectively combat it.

Awareness refers to having knowledge of the existence of something; it is the state at which one is well informed about what is going on with regards to the point of interest. The level of awareness of the Nigerian copyright laws among undergraduate students in Nigerian tertiary institutions vary from one institution to the other. According to Isiakpona (2012), awareness of copyright laws by undergraduate students at University of Ibadan, was considerably high. Though awareness is high, the knowledge on what constitute infringement of the copyright laws is low. This is a similar view shared by Korletey and Tettey (2015) in their work on copyright awareness in Kwame Nkrumah University of Science in Ghana.

Copyright infringement refers to the unauthorised use of copyrighted materials in a manner that violates owner"s exclusive right. Infringement in this context includes piracy, plagiarism of text, indiscriminate photocopying, duplication of web pages, etc. (Isiakpona, 2012). The common copyright infringement by students in tertiary institutions is plagiarism.

Plagiarism could be described as the violation of copyright law to use all or any part of A"s document, either verbatim or with trivial changes, in a document written by B, except as described in the section on fair use.

Piracy is also another means of infringement of copyright law. Piracy as opined by Thomas (1991) as cited by Okwilagwe (2001), is ―the unauthorised or illegal reproduction of the work of an author for sale without payment of royalty or other compensation to the owner of the intellectual property so exploited.

With the prevalence of network and digital publication techniques, nowadays almost all libraries have made great efforts to effectively develop and promote electronic activities, services, resources in relation to their users (e.g., Sharifabadi, 2006; Patra, 2006). Such developments in libraries have indeed benefited students" academic work and professional development. However, just as digital or electronic technologies create new opportunities for students to have convenient access to massive electronic library resources, this technology at the same time helps open up the possibility of students" problematic behaviour, such as massive downloading or even copyright-law violation (Hao-Ren and Wang, n.d.).

Most undergraduate distance learning students of the University of Ibadan, just like other undergraduate students of Nigerian universities, are poorly aware of the acts that constitute plagiarism and copyright infringement. They print, download, copy and paste and use other people"s intellectual property without making any due reference to the source nor seeking the permission to reuse such materials. Unfortunately, most of the materials are copyrighted works.

Aboyade, Aboyade and Ajala (2015) noted that in Nigeria today, there appears to be an evolving tradition of photocopy of copyrighted materials without taking into cognisance the moral and economic benefits to the authors. This culture of reckless photocopying is rampant among students and is tantamount to an abuse of copyright statutes. The global nature of the Internet serves as a saving grace to these students to run away from such crimes. Unfortunately, most of these students may not be aware of the consequences of their action as they feel that information from the Internet is free for use by all.

Copyright Infringement is defined as the unauthorised use of copyrighted material in a way that violates the copyright owner"s exclusive rights. Copyright infringement can occur in different forms, such as duplication of work, rewrite a copyrighted work, perform a written work or any other form of unauthorised uses of a copyrighted work without due permission from the copyright holder. Therefore, copyright infringement is a very broad term that covers a variety of acts. Marett (1996) averred that copyright infringement is a serious problem given the ease with which data can be transmitted worldwide, downloaded, reformatted and republished illegally. According to Wahid, the problem of illegal photocopying (piracy) and plagiarism in our academic environments could potentially result from uncertainties or lack of awareness of users.

Plagiarism and copyright infringement are serious issues in many countries especially those who are members of the international copyright treaty among which Nigeria is one. Being a member of this treaty, all copyrighted materials published in a country are guided by international copyright convention. This makes it an offence for anybody to duplicate and use any material that has been published by another person. Contrary to popular belief, plagiarism and copyright infringement are two different offences among the intellectual community. Every incident of plagiarism is not copyright infringement, especially when public domain works are involved. On the other hand, every incident of copyright infringement is not plagiarism. Some uses are legal and ethical. Those within this axis are tagged "fair use". Unfortunately, students indiscriminately use all materials under the purview of Fair Use; hence there is the need to examine these concepts critically.

Fair use refers to exceptions in the rights of copyright holders and allows for limited use of copyrighted material, even without permission. However, the conditions in which fair use can be claimed depend upon four factors such as: the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes; the nature of the copyrighted work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. An act of plagiarism never falls under fair use (Source: https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2005/10/06/copyright-infringement-plagiarism-and-fair-use/) .

One of the rights accorded to the owner of copyright is the right to reproduce or to authorize others to reproduce the work in copies. However, this right is subject to certain limitations and one of such important limitations is the doctrine of "fair use". According to Liebowitz (2010), fair use is a defense to a claim of infringement on the exclusive rights of authors. Some of the factors that impinge on the actualisation of fair use are: the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; The nature of the copyrighted work; amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Studies have shown that only 5% of students in higher institutions can afford to purchase textbooks needed for learning and research and as a result, these students tend to engage in the act of photocopying, thereby infringing on the copyright of the author (Ogunronbi and Bello, 1999). Szabo and Underwood (2004) investigated the attitudes and beliefs of 291 science students and found that 50% of them indicated an acceptance of using the Internet to cheat. This was attested to by McCabe (2009) who noted that of a total of 87 undergraduate nursing and health sciences students who acknowledged they had engaged in plagiarism. Eighty-seven per cent of these students indicated that the Internet was the exclusive or primary mechanism they use to access plagiarized material.

Electronic content is mostly affected by copyright infringement as students have diverse ways of accessing the Internet ranging from their mobile phones, laptops, cybercafés and other sources. Since some of these copyrighted items are not overtly stated as copyrighted materials, students take it for granted as materials under public domain and therefore will use without recurs to copyright owners. If this is not checked, it could lead to dearth of original creative works. Hence, our interest in the study. The Internet is still, in many ways, a free zone to all comers, with few universal rules or laws, there are a few extant statutes regulating commerce in cyber space, telling people what they can and cannot do under the law, and what will happen to them if they go ahead and do it anyway.

Several reasons have been adduced for the rising incidences of copyright infringement in the academia. The most popular is the ease with which information can be retrieved, manipulated and distributed on the Internet. The widespread use of the Internet among students has fostered the "cut and paste" approach to research. Young (2001) as cited in Babalola (2012), blame the anonymity of the web and the practice of "downloading" music, software, games, etc. at no cost from the Internet to gradually erode the culture of attribution that is fundamental to academic research.

Students generally have the misconception that the Internet is a free source for collecting information without acknowledging the author. The number of paper mills, websites that offer written term papers for a fee, has increased significantly with the advent of Internet technology. Other reasons for academic copyright infringement include lack of knowledge of rules for citation and referencing, inability to cope with workload and poor time management skills (James, McInnis and Devlin, 2002 as cited in Babalola 2012), pressure to succeed, lack of motivation to excel, laziness, cultural differences in learning and presentation styles and the availability and cheapness of the photocopier is a major factor (Babalola, 2012).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

All degrees awarded by the University on her graduates is as a result of fulfilling numerous requirements, one of which is a project which is approved on trust and certified because of its originality and contribution to knowledge.It is imperative therefore that the university produces great characters that are sound in mind and have the ability to be creative and imaginative, and adhere to the rule of law by respecting the works of others. This has been observed to be infringed upon.

When there is no copyright infringement, creativity and originality will blossom and flourish, this means the work of authors will be protected and royalty will be given to those who deserve and earn it. The growing presence of unauthorised reproduction of copyrighted products inhibits full potential growth and discourages creative activity especially among the youths who are the future.

It is no news that copyright infringement is rife among students in Nigerian tertiary institutions. It is pathetic to see the level and comfortability at which this act is done; it has become a walk in the park. It is destroying the students by making them lazy, with no creative vision and not knowing the strength and depth of their inner minds. The presence of infringement discourages creativity and originality, because there is no protection for literal creation. This situation encourages laziness, forgery, lack of creativity, low self-esteem and mediocrity. Literature, both recent and past has established that copyright laws are very important for better creativity on the part of the authors and protection of intellectual content of their work (Isiakpona, 2012). However, it is not certain if information users actually have a reasonable level of knowledge of these copyright laws as a means of protecting the intellectual creativity of respective authors. They might have reasonable level of knowledge of these but still infringe on the laws. It is also believed that in Nigeria, the copyright law is not as effective as expected since no proper mechanism is put in place to curb infringement.

It is a common knowledge that the advent of the Internet has led to the upsurge of plagiarism and copyright infringement of electronic contents. These have transformed into an intractable problem in all countries of the world. It is worst among undergraduate students who hardly know the implications of copying whole or part of other people"s published works on the Internet. Hence, it becomes a problem how to check this menace before it goes out of hand. Also, if students are not aware of the implications of copyright infringement especially on the Internet, then it cast doubt on the credibility of the outcome of their research. Hence, a study of this nature becomes important in order to curb the menace of the Internet copyright violation.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is an appraisal of copyright law awareness among students on the internet publications. The specific objectives include to:

Assess the level of copyright law of electronic content by undergraduate of University of Ibadan;

Determine the knowledge of plagiarism and copyright law by undergraduates of University of Ibadan;

Investigate the factors responsible for plagiarism and copy right infringement by undergraduate students s of University of Ibadan; and

Access the impact of social media on plagiarism and copyright law by undergraduates in University of Ibadan.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions guide the study:

What is the level of copyright infringement of electronic content by undergraduates?

What is the knowledge of plagiarism and copyright law by undergraduates of University of Ibadan?

What are the factors responsible for plagiarism and copyright infringement by undergraduate students?

What is the impact of social media on plagiarism and copyright infringement by undergraduates?

1.5 Hypothesis of the Study

Ho: The level of knowledge of plagiarism and copyright law by undergraduates of University of Ibadan is low

Hi: The level of knowledge of plagiarism and copyright law by undergraduates of University of Ibadan is high

1.6 Significance of the Study

Copyright infringement is a serious problem in Nigeria. The threat posed by copyright infringement among undergraduate students is a thing of concern. Copyright infringement has profound consequences not only for the one whose work is being debased and abused but also for the perpetrators of such act, who in this case are young undergraduates who are expected to come up with great ideas that will address modern problems in the society and also serve as a bedrock for the development of future generation.

This study is of great significance to authorities and law enforcement agents as it gives an insight to the activities of students, awareness as well as the level of copyright infringement taking place in UI. It is also of great significance to the National Universities

Commission and the School"s governing body to know what is going on and to come up with possible solution that will reduce and discourage perpetrators. The findings of this study can also be used to generalize on the universities the zone.

This work is also of great significance as it will add to knowledge, help in further research and also serve as literature now and in the future. The study will also serve as an eye opener or enlightenment to those students who are actually unaware or ignorant of the copyright law or how their activities infringe on the law.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study covered only the undergraduate students of University of Ibadan. It looked into the level of awareness of copyright law in Nigeria, the level of infringement and the provision of copyright law among the undergraduate students.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

In the course of carrying out this study, the researcher experienced some constraints, which included time constraints, financial constraints, language barriers, and the attitude of the respondents. However, the researcher were able to manage these just to ensure the success of this study.

1.9 Definitions of Terms

The following terms were operationally defined thus:

Awareness:

Conscious or mindful of copyright laws.

Copyright:

The right which an author or creator of original ideas, expressions, words drawings or works has over everyone for the duration of his life time.

Copyright Law:

The legal device that gives the creators of original ideas, expressions, words, or works the sole right to publish and sell such works.

Copyright Infringement:

The unauthorised use of ideas, expressions or works under copyright.

1.10 Organization of the Study

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows.

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study.

Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature.

Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study.

Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.

Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.

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