COSON Sues For National Intervention In Music Industry

Uzo Chikere

A call has been made for urgent national intervention on issues affecting the growth and development of Nigeria’s music industry. This was contained in the keynote address delivered by the General Manager, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, at this year’s celebration of World Intellectual Property Day in Abuja Tuesday.

Speaking on the theme, Get Up, Stand Up for Music, Chukwuji acknowledged that the growth of the Nigerian music industry is dependent on the contributions of all genuine stakeholders, adding that with the advent of the digital era and its many challenges to creativity, collaborations between the government and the private sector would go a long way in changing the face of the industry. He further stated that as a key player in the Nigerian music scene, COSON has been working tirelessly to put proper structures in place for a more vibrant music industry.

 He said, “in recognition of the many challenges in our industry, COSON in conjunction with the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition organized the first ever Nigerian Digital Music Licensing Summit which held at Protea Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos. The summit had in attendance, songwriters, composers, performers, music label executives, music publishers, entertainment lawyers, telcos, content aggregators, digital service providers, and relevant government agencies.

“A working committee set up by the summit, which has representatives of all the stakeholder groups has been working since 2013 to establish appropriate rules of engagement in the digital environment so that practitioners in Nigeria can be ahead of the curve. The major objective of the summit is to introduce the new rules, discuss the rules and their implementation so that Nigeria has a sustainable and world class music industry that places value on intellectual property and makes sure that all critical contributors get their fair share from such contributions.”

Chukwuji however, commend what he described as the never-say-die attitude of Nigerian music creators whom he said  have continued to keep Nigerian music alive and hot on the minds and lips of millions of fans across the globe in spite of the unfavourable economic situation,

On the issue of piracy, Mr. Chukwuji called on the in-coming government of Muhammadu Buhari to bring to an end the disease threatening to cripple the creative industries in Nigeria. “As countries continue to work towards the total eradication of piracy within their creative industries, it is our call to the in-coming Nigerian government to adequately empower the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to tackle this menace”, he said, urging “our legislators to help strengthen our laws to deal with the digital challenge.”

 He submitted that COSON will continue to ensure that we never have a world without music.

He said that it is important that the Federal Government of Nigeria implements the Private Copy Levy Scheme, which is already part of our law so as to compensate for the losses our creative industries continue to incur from intellectual property theft. He said, “It is our request on this day, that the appropriate Federal agencies and establishments responsible for the implementation of this scheme rise to the call and ensure that this important scheme which should be a major source of revenue is implemented in Nigeria to make up for the huge financial loss brought about by the digital era.” 

In conclusion, Mr. Chukwuji said that COSON will continue to ensure that we never have a world without music.

 Present at the event were the Honourable Minister for Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Segun Aganga; Chairman, Intellectual Property Committee, Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Afam Nwokedi; Registrar, Trademarks, Patents & Design Registry; Mrs. Nima Salman-Mann, Vice Chairman, Intellectual Property Committee, Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Remi Dalley; Counselor for Economic Affairs, Embassy of the United States of America, Mr. Alan R. Tousignant; Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association Abuja branch, Mr. Agada Elachi; Director General of National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and Dr‎. Umar B. Binder. Also present were Nigerian creative geniuses, intellectual property lawyers and students from Nigerian tertiary institutions.

The World Intellectual Property Day is an annual event organized by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to promote the role and contributions of intellectual property to the development of different economies around the world, whilst raising awareness for this multifaceted field of endeavour. It holds on April 26 of every year.