Regulating Digital Content Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (United Kingdom): Lessons for Nigeria

Abstract

The growth of the quality of digital content market is intrinsically linked to consumer confidence, and the confidence of consumers is rooted in the awareness consumers have regarding their rights in the purchase of digital content. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 recently enacted in the United Kingdom attempts to solve the problem often associated with applying a legal regime set in an analogue era in a digital age. The Act brings together key consumer rights, harmonising existing provisions to give a single approach.

This paper argues that clarity in consumer rights will invariably boost the quality of digital content market hence this paper takes a consumer empowerment approach in regulating digital content. The analysis of digital content and consumer rights in the United Kingdom under Consumer Rights Act will be the benchmark for making recommendations on how an emerging economy like Nigeria can surmount hurdles in advancing its digital economy, especially where digital content and consumer rights are concerned.

Keywords: Consumer, Consumer Rights, Digital Content, Nigeria, United Kingdom

JEL Classification: K10, K12, Y40, Z18