The silence was deafening
for a moment, the atmosphere thick with emotion during a media parley when the
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) paid a visit to Copyright
Society of Nigeria (COSON). The heart rendering information had just spread
round that the works of the late Sir Nico Mbarga could not be found anywhere in
the database of musical works around the world. Simply put, Sir Nico Mbarga while
alive received little or nothing as music copyright royalties for his music
exploited at home and abroad and that includes the monumental hit song Sweet Mother. The use of his works could
not be tracked and so royalties he should have earned were never realized even
though his works were massively exploited internationally. Sadly Sir Nico
Mbarga, whose works turned many businesses into gold mines, could not be
referred to as wealthy; even though his creative works when put together were
equivalent to a gold mine. Ironic, isn’t it?
This, sad as it may be, has been the
story of many music right owners in Nigeria for as long as can be told. Sad tales of enriching the businesses of many others
and yet being unable to fend for themselves.
Our emphasis however,
is not on the life of the late music icon, Sir Nico Mbarga, nor on the many
others who shared the same fate as he. Our focus is on the reforms in the
Nigerian music industry which once upon a time were farfetched and mere wishes.
Our focus is on the system of collective rights management which has turned
around the lives of talents in creative industries globally.
Consider the late pop kings Michael Jackson,
Elvis Presley who were reported by Forbes to have earned 170M USD (approx. 25
Billion Naira) and 55M USD (approx. 8 Billion Naira) respectively from music in
2011.SEE HERE
What about the Reggae
legend, Bob Marley whose estate is believed to gross about 6Million USD annually
from music? Permit me to speak of acts like Quincy Jones, the musician
extraordinaire, whose net worth is estimated at 310
Million USD (approx. 46 Billion Naira). This can only be, because his
intellectual property rights are respected and protected.
Now, what
differentiates our music heroes from the likes of those described above? Why do
they seem to have lived a life in the reverse from their colleagues just
mentioned? I know you might be thinking,
“those guys live in a civilized economy”, well you may be right but what/who
makes an economy civilized? It is the
people, of course and it begins with the respect of human rights.
Nigerian music has
become a force to reckon with globally. All around Africa and beyond, the names
of Nigerian artistes like Tuface Idibia, P-Square, Banky W, Flavour N’abania,
Frank Edwards, Sinach, Whizkid and even our Nollywood stars are well recognized
internationally, even above some of our politicians (no offence intended). But
of what benefit is the recognition and the air play they enjoy if all of that does
not sum up to cash for their hard work?
Where lies the future
of Nigerian music if all the artiste does is work hard, invest so much and get
little or nothing in return? Will we not be signing off creativity if these
talents are not encouraged?
It is true that Nigerian musicians may have lost
huge sums of money through the exploitations of their works, locally and
internationally. It is also true and good news that the loop holes
which once existed in the Nigerian music scene are being plugged by the vibrant
COSON, approved by the Federal Government of Nigeria as the sole CMO for music.
COSON is a national nonprofit making
organization, which is well equipped to aggregate the rights of copyright
owners into a pool. COSON as your music CMO is best placed to licence the use
of your works on your behalf while you excel at what you are best at; music. COSON
provides a cushion of regular income for you, the creator and artiste. Hand in
hand with music right owners, COSON is committed to the end of the monkey dey work, baboon dey chop era.
For
more on a CMO, SEE HERE
COSON believes
Nigeria is a country where laws work if you insist. It is on this
factor that we have excelled and weathered many storms in just 2 years of its
existence.
For more information visit us at www.cosonng.com or connect with
us on Facebook @ COSON.Nigeria and on twitter @ COSONNG.
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