The Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) is spoiling for a showdown with proprietors of hotels, night clubs, restaurants and event venues in Abuja owing to their penchant to deploy music without paying for its use. This is happening at the same time the society commenced total enforcement of the war against music copyright defaulters in Abuja, in an assault it called ‘Operation No Hiding Place”.
It was stated in a press release issued by the nation’s sole collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings that a COSON delegation led by its Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji was in Abuja last week for a visit that stretched several days aimed at ensuring that all the arrangements are in place to guarantee that no one who broadcasts music in a commercial or public place in Abuja escapes ‘Operation No Hiding Place’.
At a meeting with the President of Hotel Owners Forum Abuja (HOFA), Engr. Onofiok Ekong, in his Abuja office, Chief Okoroji was quoted to have said, “You will bear witness that COSON has behaved very responsibly in this matter. We have engaged the hotel industry in Nigeria in several months of discussions and negotiations, which you actively participated in.
“In December 2012, we signed a landmark agreement with the hotel industry to pay copyright royalties, which are some of the most modest in the world.” Chief Okoroji’s concern was that, “While a good number of hotels and similar establishments have complied with the agreement, there are those committed to unending lawlessness. They want to continue with the brazen stealing of the intellectual property of innocent citizens.
“We have come to inform you that we have decided to end this lawlessness forthwith. We are deploying every tool under the law as it cannot be business as usual. Any recalcitrant organization that enters our net is assured that to get out, it will cost such an organization at least ten times the cost if it had simply complied with the agreement which you helped to negotiate,” said Okoroji, who described COSON as a socially responsible organization which believes strongly in tackling issues first through dialogue.
He held that it was in this light that the delegation visited the Federal Capital Territory to engage the heads of key institutions with interest in copyright and to notify them of the steps that COSON has decided to take to ensure compliance with the Copyright Act as Operation No Hiding Place runs its course. While the Abuja trip lasted, the delegation also met with the Director-General, Nigerian Copyright Commission, Afam Ezekude; the Director- General, National Broadcasting Commission, Emeka Mba; the Director-General, Voice of Nigeria, Malam Abubakar Jijiwa who is also Chairman, Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON). The COSON delegation had the General Manager, Chinedu Chukwuji and Mr. Sunday Abraham, the Principal Consultant, Visdav Consult, the well-known COSON royalty collection agents in the FCT.
The former President of Performing Musicians’ Employers’ Association of Nigeria, PMAN also explained that before this last resort, COSON has spent substantial funds to organize several stakeholders’ forums in Abuja during which we engaged music users in the FCT on the need to comply with the Copyright Act. His words, “While several organizations are imbibing the culture of paying music copyright royalties, we have met with a brick wall in some other instances. It is our resolve to apply zero tolerance for any form of copyright infringement against the teeming number of young Nigerians, and the 131 collective management organizations around the world that COSON represents. “ In his response, the HOFA President, Engr. Ekong coomeended the COSON delegation for the visit and for the patience exhibited so far in its dealings with the hotel industry in Abuja which his association represents. “I must commend your efforts so far in enlightening the public on the issues of copyright and how it affects our economy.
“I want to assure you of the support of our association. I promise to use my office as the HOFA President to get all our members to comply with an agreement which we freely entered into with COSON because it is for the greater good of our nation. HOFA is a collection of law abiding organizations. Any of our members who will not act within the law should not expect the protection of HOFA,” Ekong pledged.
DailyPost recalls that COSON had recently launched a campaign against music copyright defaulters in Nigeria tagged ‘Operation No Hiding Place’ where it promised to make it difficult for any organization to deploy music commercially or publicly without meeting the conditions stipulated by the law.
Comments