What is a CMO?

When it pertains to music copyright, the acronym CMO represents a collective management organization (kindly note that CMOs are not limited to music, they can be set up for other areas of copyright such as literary, cinematography, broadcast, etc).The concept of Collective Management of copyright in music is described as the link between creators or owners of music and users of such works. CMOs are  stand-in for the copyright owners.

The benefits of a CMO to a music copyright owner/holder and user cannot be over emphasized. Imagine that Tuface Idibia with all the music hits to his credit decides to collect royalties due to him from all users of his works. He will have to journey to all the licensed broadcast stations, hotels, night clubs and other such users within and outside Nigeria where his works are used. He will monitor their individual use of his works, negotiate with them and work out a tariff and payment plan with each of the users. One thing is certain; Tuface Idibia will spend practically all his productive life chasing after users of his works and no time to create any more of the good music for which he is well loved.

The good news however is that Tuface does not have to undertake all of these troubles because of the existence of the system of collective management of copyright. A CMO does for the right owner what he/she cannot do for himself/herself.

Similarly, if the average broadcast station were to seek permission from all owners of copyrighted works it wishes to broadcast, it will have to travel the ends of the world to search for and negotiate with ALL the copyright owners involved in each of the works it wishes to use. This will amount to a huge strain on the station’s personnel and finance. This also is unnecessary if the broadcast station will approach a music CMO, which has been licensed in its territory.

Collective management of copyright takes care of the challenges involved in the individual management of rights. As seen in the cases described above, a music copyright owner may not be capable of monitoring all uses of his works, negotiate remuneration and ensure royalty payment from all users of his works and in the same way, a broadcast station may not have the capacity to seek permission from all owners of copyrighted works it wishes to broadcast. 

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) as your music CMO in Nigeria ensures that those who invest their creative energy enjoy the fruits of their labour so that the creative enterprise can truly boom. COSON also ensures that the users of music no longer have to face the continuous harassment and intimidation from all manner of people claiming to represent music copyright owners. COSON is the only mechanism that has the collective strength to enable artistes and music creators to be rewarded and carry on producing works of creativity. It is therefore absolutely essential that any serious artiste, creator and music maker is a member of COSON.

COSON is the sole CMO for music in Nigeria licensed by the Federal Government to ensure that the rights of the owners of copyright in musical works and sound recordings are protected in a transparent manner and the users get a fair deal. If you are not with COSON where will you rather be?