Andembubtob, Apuru and Ezra (2020)

Source Details

Andembubtob, Apuru and Ezra (2020)
Title:	Software Piracy in Nigeria
Author(s):	Andembubtob, D.R., Apuru, J.I., Ezra, S.D.
Year:	2020
Citation:	Andembubtob, D.R., Apuru, J.I. and Ezra, S.D. (2020) Software Piracy in Nigeria. Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science 6(1)
Link(s):	Open Access
Key Related Studies:	Akman and Yazici (2006) Mishra, Petar and Claudia (2007) Kwan, Jaisingh and Tam (2008) Shubhnandan and Nishant (2012)
Discipline:	O34: Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
Linked by:

About the Data
Data Description:	The study uses a survey with a convenience sample of 3270 participants drawn from all areas of Nigeria. The survey uses a Likert scale to assess agreement or disagreement with statements regarding causes of software piracy.
Data Type:	Primary data
Secondary Data Sources:
Data Collection Methods:	Survey Research (quantitative; e.g. sales/income reporting)
Data Analysis Methods:	Descriptive statistics (counting; means reporting; cross-tabulation)
Industry(ies):	Software publishing (including video games)
Country(ies):	Nigeria
Cross Country Study?:	No
Comparative Study?:	No
Literature review?:	No
Government or policy study?:	No
Time Period(s) of Collection:
Funder(s):

Abstract

“The enormity of software piracy varies in different countries and Nigeria is not an exception. Software piracy occurs in diverse forms such as soft lifting, hard disk loading, counterfeiting and unauthorized renting. Many reasons are behind software piracy. Software piracy has many negative economic consequences: Competition distorted by pirated software at the expense of local industries, loss of tax revenue and jobs because of the lack of a legitimate market, increase in cost recovery which, overall, affects social well-being of the citizenry. Findings have revealed that Nigeria has the highest case of software piracy, intellectual property theft and other sharp practices in the IT industry in Africa. Hence, this work investigates software piracy in Nigeria; revealing the concepts, causes, effects; and proffered solutions. We adopted the descriptive survey design. The research instrument used was online questionnaire with a sample size of 3270 people drawn from a population of respondents from the six (6) Geopolitical Zones of Nigeria. The results show that software piracy has statistically significant effect on the economy of Nigeria and that high standard of living is the biggest cause of software piracy in Nigeria.”

Main Results of the Study

The study finds multiple factors that may contribute to software piracy in Nigeria. For example, the majority of respondents agreed that weak legal enforcement in Nigeria may contribute to increased levels of software piracy (33% strongly agreeing and 54.8% agreeing). Poverty and high costs of licences are also strongly associated with causes of software piracy (with 49.9% strongly agreeing and 39.9% agreeing). Furthermore, participants believe that software piracy has a significant effect on the economy of Nigeria, with 33.3% of participants strongly agreeing with this statement, and 47.2% agreeing.

Policy Implications as Stated By Author

The study recommends increasing public education and awareness about piracy enforcement measures in Nigeria. Further, those enforcement measures should be stronger. Additionally, domestic production of software may reduce the overall costs of obtaining licences, thereby reducing barriers to legal purchase.

Coverage of Study

Coverage of Fundamental Issues

Issue	Included within Study
Relationship between protection (subject matter/term/scope) and supply/economic development/growth/welfare
Relationship between creative process and protection - what motivates creators (e.g. attribution; control; remuneration; time allocation)?
Harmony of interest assumption between authors and publishers (creators and producers/investors)
Effects of protection on industry structure (e.g. oligopolies; competition; economics of superstars; business models; technology adoption)
Understanding consumption/use (e.g. determinants of unlawful behaviour; user-generated content; social media)

Coverage of Evidence Based Policies

Issue	Included within Study
Nature and Scope of exclusive rights (hyperlinking/browsing; reproduction right)
Exceptions (distinguish innovation and public policy purposes; open-ended/closed list; commercial/non-commercial distinction)
Mass digitisation/orphan works (non-use; extended collective licensing)
Licensing and Business models (collecting societies; meta data; exchanges/hubs; windowing; crossborder availability)
Fair remuneration (levies; copyright contracts)
Enforcement (quantifying infringement; criminal sanctions; intermediary liability; graduated response; litigation and court data; commercial/non-commercial distinction; education and awareness)

Datasets

Sample size:	3270
Level of aggregation:	Individuals
Period of material under study: