COSON SIGNS LICENSING DEAL WITH MULTICHOICE

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the nations sole Collective Management Organization for musical works and sound recordings has signed a landmark multimillion Naira royalty agreement with Multichoice Nigeria, operators of DSTV. The agreement signing ceremony which held at the regal Oriental Hotel in Lagos earlier on in the week grants MultiChoice the licence to broadcast music on its various platforms.

(L-R) Chinedu Chukwuji, Azeezat Allen, Adewale Ayuba, Tony Okoroji, Matthew Ojo, Mr. John 

L-R:  Chinedu Chukwuji, Matthew Ojo, Tony Okoroji and John Ugbe

L-R:  Chinedu Chukwuji, Matthew Ojo, Tony Okoroji and John Ugbe

In his address at the event witnessed by a cross section of the Nigerian media and members of the COSON Board and management, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji assured music owners of COSON's commitment to ensuring that the music pays. He said, "You will recall that two years ago when COSON was approved by the Nigerian Copyright Commission, we made a solemn pledge to do whatever it takes to defend the rights of those who create or invest in music in Nigeria. We swore before you to end the many years of the locust. We said that whatever it takes, we

will make collective management of copyright work in Nigeria… for two years COSON has worked round the clock and been everywhere at the same time. I have been asked whether COSON ever sleeps and I said no. COSON can't afford to sleep until the abuse of the copyright in music and sound recordings are ended in Nigeria. Even then, COSON will not sleep".

Chief Okoroji said that the deal with MultiChoice was one of the many steps COSON has taken in ensuring that it delivers on the promise made to the thousands of music owners it represents and commended MultiChoice Nigeria for complying with law. Said Chief Okoroji, "I want to thank the Multichoice Staff and Management, especially the Managing Director, Mr. John Ugbe. I can't recall how many times John and Gozie Onumonu were at the COSON office in Ikeja, the countless hours of negotiations and the many road blocks we worked together to remove to make this possible. They have shown Multichoice to be a socially responsible organization and I commend them for their never-say-die spirit".

Chief Okoroji also encouraged users of music to take a cue from the Management of MultiChoice Nigeria saying "All public and commercial users of music do not have to wait for a law suit before they contact COSON and obtain their licence to use music in public".

Clarifying the issue of DSTV subscription and copyright licence, Chief Okoroji said "I am informed that someone has misled owners of hotels, restaurants and similar public establishments that the payment of their DSTV subscription authorizes them to freely play music to their customers and to the general public. There is no better place to state publicly that the payment of subscription to receive the first class signals from DSTV is not the same as a copyright licence to communicate music and sound recordings to the general public. Hotels, restaurants and similar establishments which have not done so should get in touch with COSON without delay.

Speaking on the licensing agreement with COSON, Managing Director of MultiChoice, Mr. John Ugbe said, "As a Pan-African organization that is dedicated to ensuring that Nigeria becomes a leader in entertainment in the continent, this partnership with COSON will only help in driving that leadership for Nigerian content even more on DSTV and the rest of the platforms which we have. I am very proud to state that as MultiChoice, we value intellectual property and we have always been ensuring that artistes get paid for their content, through our sister company we have invested over 200M USD buying Nigerian content and with this new agreement with music, we can only grow from here. We believe that a labourer deserves his/her wages and in our effort to renew vibrant talent emerging from Nigeria and the African continent, there is a need for this kind of partnership. We encourage other organizations to come onboard and work with structured organizations here".

Also reacting to the COSON-MULTICHOICE Agreement, General Manager of COSON, Chinedu Chukwuji said, "What we witness here today is proof that COSON means business, we are not joking. We are ready to go all the way to ensure that the music pays those who have laboriously invested in it".

Present at the agreement signing ceremony was Mr. Matthew Ojo, representative of the Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission; Mrs. Ijeoma Theo, representative of the Director General, National Broadcasting Commission; Members of the COSON Board, Dr. Adewale Ayuba, Azeezat Allen and Mr. Joel Ajayi.

It will be recalled that in December 2011, COSON distributed over N26M in royalties to its members and has promised to distribute even more this year.