Section 13
Substitution of section 41a
of Copyright (Amendment) Act 2022
The principal Act is amended by substituting for section 41a the following section:
“Compounding of offences 41a. (1) The Minister may, with the approval of the
Public Prosecutor, make regulations prescribing—
(a)
any offence under this Act and any subsidiary legislation made under this Act as an offence which may be compounded; and
(b)
the method and procedure for compounding such offence.
(2)
The Controller, Deputy Controller or any person authorized in writing by the Controller may, with the consent in writing of the Public Prosecutor, at any time before a prosecution is instituted, compound any offence which may be compounded by making a written offer to the person reasonably suspected of having committed the offence upon payment to the Controller, Deputy Controller or any person authorized in writing by the Controller, a sum of money not exceeding fifty per centum of the amount of the maximum fine to which the person would have been liable to if he had been convicted of the offence, within such time as may be specified in the written offer.
Copyright (Amendment)
(3)
The written offer under subsection (2) may be made at any time after the offence has been committed but before any prosecution for it has been instituted, and where the amount specified in the written offer is not paid within the time specified in the written offer, or such extended time as the Controller, Deputy Controller or any person authorized in writing by the Controller may grant, the prosecution for the offence may be instituted at any time after that against the person to whom the written offer was made.
(4)
Where an offence has been compounded under subsection (2), no prosecution shall be instituted in respect of the offence against the person to whom the offer to compound was made, and the Controller, Deputy Controller or any person authorized in writing by the Controller, may forfeit or return any article, vehicle, book, document, copy or contrivance seized in connection with the offence, subject to such terms as the Controller, Deputy Controller or any person authorized in writing by the Controller thinks fit.
(5)
All sums of money received by the Controller,
Deputy Controller or any person authorized in writing by the Controller under this section shall be paid into and form part of the Federal Consolidated Fund.”.
Amendment of section 43a