MCSN calls on the attorney general to review the approval granted to coson to operate as a collecting society.
The Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (Ltd/Gte), MCSN, has written to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, to immediately review and withdraw the approval given to COSON to operate as a sole collective management organisation (collecting society) for the entire music industry in Nigeria.
MCSN’s call stems from the licensing agreement signed between COSON and a Chartered Accounting Firm, Messrs Olusola Adekanola & Co., licensing the accounting firm to collect royalties for musical works in Nigeria.
MCSN reasoned that by contracting out collecting rights solely granted to COSON to collect royalties to another firm, COSON has clearly admitted its un-preparedness and gross inability to perform the functions of collecting society awarded to it by the NCC.
MCSN posed the following questions among several others for the Honourable Minister to consider:
- Whether COSON has the right to licence another collecting organisation as envisaged under Section 39 of the Copyright Act.
- Whether COSON actually has the requisite expertise, structures, personnel and resources to perform the functions of collecting societies/CMOs for it to have been approved as a CMO.
- Whether it was right, prudent and in the interest of copyright owners and creators of musical and audiovisual works to supplant an organisation and structures which they have been nurturing for over 26 years with another one which has no structures, experience or expertise of any form.
- Whether it is right and in the interest of copyright owners and creators to have their fundamental and constitutional interests and rights transferred to another entity entirely not known to them and without their consent.
The Society asked further that what was there left for a collecting society so called to do after it has given out its main function of royalty collection to another organisation?
The complaint of corruption, compromise, abuse of office made against the Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, Mr. Adebambo Adewopo, and some of his staff has now been clearly proved beyond any reasonable doubt. It is now proven that COSON does not have the structure, experience, expertise and even the repertoire to be approved as a collecting society. They just arranged and bargained with the named top officials of the NCC for a licence, which they have now in turn gone out to sell to highest bidders.
It must equally be noted that the Chartered Accounting firm to which COSON has traded off its approval, has no experience, structure, expertise or even knowledge of the collective administration and management of copyright. What then informs the award of this contract to the firm?
The sub-contracting or licensing of the Chartered Accounting Firm by COSON to collect royalties is an unnecessary introduction of middlemen and contractors into the business of collective management of copyright, which is a certain recipe for the destruction of sound collective management of copyright in Nigeria, which MCSN has strived to build over the years. |
