WIPO SECOND COMING TO COSON

Mr. Simon Ouedraogo, WIPO Senior Advisor, Chief Tony Okoroji
 and Mr. Boukary Sawadogo, WIPO Consultant

A new technical mission of World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Geneva based UN specialized agency for Intellectual property around the world, arrived the country over the weekend to provide Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the technological framework to improve on its capacity to carry out its mandate as the nation’s sole government approved collective management organization.

WIPO Headquarters in Geneva 

The mission made up of Mr. Simon Ouedraogo, WIPO Senior Advisor and Mr. Boukary Sawadogo, WIPO Consultant is to be embedded at COSON for a period of one week.

As part of their assignment, the team will assess the COSON current database under the WIPOCOS system; provide theoretical and technical training, regarding the management of related rights in the context of WIPOCOS and assist to improve COSON distribution system in the field of musical works.

The team will also install and train the COSON technical personnel on WIPOCOS related rights modules, in particular WIPOCOS PERFORMERS so as to assist COSON to more efficiently deal with sound recordings. The mission will also customize a distribution system for COSON with respect to sound recordings and performance.

Welcoming the team to Nigeria, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, expressed the appreciation of the society to the Director General of WIPO, Dr. Francis Gurry for the interest that WIPO has shown towards the rapid growth of COSON. He noted that this was the second WIPO technical mission to COSON in less than two years of approval by the Nigerian government.

Said Chief Okoroji, “COSON is committed to be Africa’s number one collective management organization in music and sound recordings within the shortest possible time.  Our rapid growth is an affirmation of the promise we made to the stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry that we will build an institution that everyone will be proud of. The current WIPO mission will definitely accelerate that process”.

Speaking on arrival, the leader of the team, Mr. Simon Ouedraogo said, “The international copyright community is impressed with what COSON has done so far and is committed to ensure that the momentum is maintained. At WIPO, we believe that COSON is showing good example of how a CMO should be run and WIPO support for COSON is assured”.

In reaction to the WIPO mission, the COSON General Manager, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, said that he is thrilled by the important mission, shortly after the working visit to COSON of Mr. Robert Hooijer of the International Confederation of Authors and Composers Societies (CISAC). According to Mr. Chukwuji, “This is clear evidence that COSON is flying high and the world is applauding”.

It will be recalled that COSON in December 2011, distributed several millions of naira to stakeholders in the music industry across the country. The society has promised an even bigger distribution in 2012.