NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY SET TO HOLD ANNUAL ‘NO MUSIC DAY’ CELEBRATION ON SEPTEMBER 1

NIGERIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY SET TO HOLD ANNUAL ‘NO MUSIC DAY’ CELEBRATION ON SEPTEMBER 1

 

The Nigerian music industry has set plans in motion to mark the annual ‘No Music Day’ across Nigeria on September 1. “No Music Day” is a day the music industry has dedicated to bringing the attention of the Nigerian nation to the widespread infringement of the rights of song writers, composers, performers, music publishers, record labels and other stakeholders in the music industry.

 

With the theme, ‘‘Music for National Stability’’, The “No Music Day” 2017 celebration is aimed at building significant public awareness and support for the new national fight against piracy of music, movies, literature, broadcast content, software, etc, which is undermining investments in the Nigerian creative industry.

Speaking on the theme of this year’s event, renowned Intellectual Property activist and Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji said “Every year, in marking ‘No Music Day’, our objective has been to engage the Nigerian people and the various governments on the potential contributions of Nigerian music to the socio-economic development of the Nigerian nation and the necessity to fully deploy the substantial comparative advantage which our nation possesses in this area, so as to provide hundreds of thousands of well-paying jobs to the teeming masses of Nigerian youth who parade the streets of our country with little hope. I have no doubt that if the right environment is created in Nigeria, the enormous creative energy exhibited by our young people will be released to the amazement of the world”

 

On the COSON ‘Music for National Stability’ project, Chief Okoroji said, ‘‘The project will among other vital things, activate a forceful campaign against hate speech in Nigeria, which is threatening ethnic harmony and peace in the country, and also enhance the vigorous promotion of the Nigerian Music Industry, so as to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s GDP.’’

 

Speaking also on “No Music Day” 2017, Ace singer and Queen of love, Azeezat Allen said “We are planning seriously to make “No Music Day” 2017 a memorable event. COSON and the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition are counting on the support of Nigerians to make this the biggest “No Music Day” event ever held. It is time we took the music business seriously in Nigeria, to enable us unleash the creative ingenuity of our people and create a better environment for creative minds to thrive.”

 

In commemoration of “No Music Day”, as has become the practice, broadcast stations across Nigeria have been requested not to broadcast music between the hours of 8am and 10am on Friday, September 1, 2017 as a mark of solidarity with the nation’s creative industry whose potential has been limited by massive copyright infringement. Rather than broadcast music, the stations have been asked to dedicate the 8 am to 10 am time belt to the broadcast of interviews, documentaries, debates and discussions that focus on the rights of creative people and the potential contributions of creative activities to the national economy. Newspapers and magazines across the country are also requested to publish special features on these issues in the coming days.

The Nigerian public is requested to tune in to different domestic radio and television stations on September 1 to engage members and affiliates of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and other music industry experts who will spread out to different broadcast stations to discuss “Music for National Stability” as the Nigerian nation seeks alternative sources of income to replace the dwindling oil revenue.

MUSIC STAR KENNY SAINT BEST UNVEILS O'GOODNESS FOOD COURT WITH DELICACIES NAMED AFTER NIGERIAN CELEBRITIES

Kenny Ogungbe, KSB, Moji Dokpesi and Chinedu Chukwuji

Nigerian award winning gospel star, KSB  who has been in the news, riding on the waves of her new book 'Stop! Turn it around' has on Wednesday August 16, 2017 opened her O'GOODNESS FOOD COURT in Ikeja, Lagos State.

The opening ceremony which had prominent personalities present such as Chief (Mrs) Mojisola Dokpesi, Kennis FM founder, Kenny 'Keke' Ogungbe, Pastor Nike Onuorah, COSON General Manager/C.E.O, Chinedu Chukwuji, Royalty Records C.E.O, Prince Stanley Williams, among others, was held at Plaza 54, Olowu road, Ikeja; same building housing the food cafe.

Pst Onuorah giving an exaltation

Giving a short exaltation, Pastor Nike Onuorah encouraged the singer to commit her works unto God, she further rejoiced with the music star on the establishment of her long wished desire, stating that this was a pointer to God's faithfulness.

Chief Moji Dokpesi declaring the food cafe open

This was followed by the official opening, accompanied with series of prayers which was done by sister to the singer, Chief Mrs Dokpesi.

Moji Dokpesi, Kenny Ogungbe, KSB and her 2 children

Speaking on what inspired the name, the singer who was visibly excited said 'I know that people crave for good food and when you taste a good food, you are likely to exclaim O' GOODNESS!! 

On the delicacies available at the food cafe, she said 'The best jollof ever is here, we serve the best ofada rice and sauce, We serve the best Don jazzy, if you want to know what Don Jazzy is, then you should visit O'GOODNESS!, we also have special meals for people who are diabetic, we have swallow. But let me tell you a secret, the best bet here is Jenifa, i can guarantee you that you'd exclaim O'GOODNESS!! after having this meal'.

Prince Stanley Williams with KSB

Guest were then treated to some sumptuous O'GOODNESS meals.

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) congratulates KSB and wishes her well in her latest endeavour.  

OKOROJI UNVEILS THE KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE BIG COSON WEEK 2017

OKOROJI UNVEILS THE KEY OBJECTIVES OF THE BIG COSON WEEK 2017

It is no longer news that The COSON Week which takes place every two years will hold from October 29 to November 4, 2017 and during the week, there will be 7 captivating events at 7 special venues over 7 days all over the city of Lagos which is being promoted as the entertainment capital of the continent and a major tourism hub. That is why the catch phrase of the 2017 COSON Week is “777!”

As the COSON Week explodes, there will be music all over the city: in the church, in the mosque, on the streets and in the most enchanting venues available to Lagos and much of these events will be broadcast live on several channels and will reverberate across the nation and across the world.

Speaking at the end of the recent Banking Industry Stakeholders Forum on Copyright held at the magnificent new COSON House in Ikeja, the chairman of the wave making Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, announced the core objectives of COSON Week 2017. Chief Okoroji who was recently presented with ‘the Pillar of Entertainment in Nigeria’ award, said that apart from the massive entertainment that will be unleashed by hundreds of Nigerian musicians, young and old, to reduce the political and economic stress being felt by millions across the country, the COSON Week 2017 will be targeted at achieving specific objectives. The key objectives of the COSON Week 2017 according to the celebrated former president of PMAN are to:

   a)  build significant public awareness and support for the new national fight against piracy of music, movies, literature, broadcast content, software, etc, which is undermining investments in the Nigerian creative industry;

 b) mount a forceful campaign against hate speech in Nigeria which is threatening ethnic harmony and peace in the country;

 c) vigorously promote the Nigerian Music Industry to contribute more meaningfully to the nation’s GDP;

  d)   sell the Nigerian nation to the world as an important tourist destination;

 e) support the COSON Music Foundation set up to assist old or indigent artistes or musicians in distress

According to Okoroji, “we are getting significant support from practically every serious media organization in the country:  NTA, FRCN, Hip TV, Soundcity, ONTV, Galaxy TV, Brila FM, BISCON TV, Beat FM, Classic FM, Cool FM, Wazobia FM, STV, Rhythm, City People, Encomium, Yes Magazine and many-many others across Nigeria. With our integrated social media operation, we are constructing an unprecedented multi-million-naira media backbone to ensure that the reverberations of the COSON Week 2017 are felt everywhere across the nation and the world”

Okoroji appealed to the banks and all socially responsible organizations and brands in Nigeria to fully support COSON Week 2017. According to the author of ‘Copyright & the New Millionaires’, “we all have a big stake in the stability, survival and progress of the Nigerian nation and cannot wait until the falcon can no longer hear the falconer. We just need to look at the misery that comes with the failure of nations to understand that no investments we make towards the stability of Nigeria is too much. I have had very deep and frank discussions with the Honorable Minister of Information & Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on our ‘Music for National Stability’ initiative. He was indeed the one who called me to pledge support for what we are doing.  I believe that he gets it. Let me make it clear that I have never belonged to any political party and that we seek the support of all Nigerians irrespective of their political inclinations. We want a peaceful and stable nation in which our children can dream and grow”

THE BAD LOSERS AT MCSN WANT A REPLAY OF A MATCH THEY LOST 7 YEARS AGO!

SATURDAY BREAKFAST with TONY OKOROJI

THE BAD LOSERS AT MCSN WANT A REPLAY OF A MATCH THEY LOST 7 YEARS AGO!

The finals were played on May 20, 2010. The trophy was won. The spectators have long gone home. The referee has since retired from the game. Suddenly, the very bad losers at MCSN want a match that was won and lost 7 years ago to be replayed!

In their always shifting arguments, they now want 2 trophies so they can have one!

In 2009, three organizations applied to be approved as collective management organizations for the music industry. They were COSON, MCSN and WASPAN. Each of the organizations very well knew that with the provisions of the law, only one of them would be approved. There would be only one trophy.

When the result was announced on May 20, 2010, expectedly, COSON was approved. COSON was approved because it had the full support of the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition backed by 10 of the biggest national associations in the industry including PMAN, NARI, MORAN, PMRS, AMB.PRO, MUPMAN, etc. COSON also had by far the largest spread of membership and repertoire of music in Nigeria. Mr Adebambo Adewopo who was Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission when COSON was approved by the NCC was a well-known MCSN lawyer. The fact that Adewopo authorized the approval of COSON is instructive.

Upon the approval of COSON, WASPAN, one of the applicants for approval readily agreed to work with COSON. Despite repeated appeal to MCSN by COSON for all to work together in the interest of the Nigerian music industry, MCSN refused and decided to go to court to contest their loss.

Despite their non-approval, MCSN also continued to collect royalties in defiance of the law. At a point, the MCSN argument changed and became: ’we do not require an approval to collect royalties. We are not a CMO but “owners, assignee and exclusive licensees”! This was the same organization that applied for a CMO license and lost. Of course, MCSN lost this incredibly convoluted argument at the Court of Appeal. They went to the Supreme Court and their case was struck out.

MCSN even went to court to challenge the registration of COSON by the Corporate Affairs Commission. They lost.

MCSN went ahead to challenge the constitutionality of the provisions of Section 39 of the Copyright Act which prescribes only one approved CMO for each class of works. Their argument? The provisions of Section 39 abridged their rights to freedom of association.

In Suit No. FHC/L/CS/478/08, MCSN sought a declaration that Section 39 of the Copyright Act is unconstitutional, null and void. Justice I.M. Sani of the Federal High Court disagreed with them. They lost. They appealed Justice Sani’s decision. In Appeal No: CA/L/575/09, the Court of Appeal in another unanimous judgment vehemently disagreed with MCSN ruling that the provisions of the Copyright Act are constitutional. MCSN once again lost.

MCSN ignored the several rulings of the courts and continued to collect copyright royalties without approval. It was then that officers of the Nigerian Copyright Commission went to their office in Lagos and arrested their CEO, Mr. Mayo Ayilaran and six of his staff.

Most people will remember the scatting media campaign mounted by MCSN against the NCC. They said that the arrest of their officers was an infringement of their fundamental human rights. The matter once again went up to the Court of Appeal and the court in CAL/L/350/2013 (NCC v MCSN, Mayo Ayilaran & 6 others) unanimously ruled that the arrest was very much in order. Once again, MCSN lost. Finally, the shit had hit the fan.

To escape criminal trial in the 7 cases brought against them before different judges of the Federal High Court, Ayilaran and MCSN hatched a new plan to penetrate the Federal Ministry of Justice where they used an aid to the HAGF to concoct the directive that MCSN should be approved with zero adherence to the rule of law and due process and that the 7 criminal cases against MCSN and its officers should be quashed! They want an ‘approval’ in 2017 to wipe away offences committed as far back as 2012 when clearly MCSN had no approval. Wow!

Their new media campaign about ‘monopoly’ is diversionary. There is no question that if MCSN had been the only CMO approved in 2010, Ayilaran and MCSN would have widely celebrated the approval and will not be talking about ‘monopoly’. The Nigerian music industry has tasted multiple CMOs before. It did not work. The industry came together to back one CMO which was approved seven years ago and which has been professional, transparent, accountable and one of the most admired in the African continent. Suddenly, Mayo Ayilaran and his MCSN gang want a replay of a match that was won and lost seven years ago.

In fourteen days, specifically on May 20, the cream of Nigeria will come together to commission the ultra-modern COSON House in the heart of Ikeja. COSON House will be a symbol that ours is not a jinxed profession. Thousands of musicians across the country are happy that we will no longer be paying rent. Finally, Nigerian musicians have a beautiful place we can call our own. The magnificent building is called ‘COSON House’ and not ‘Tony Okoroji House’

Nearly 25 years ago, I did everything possible to have the PMAN Plaza built for musicians in Abuja. We acquired a piece of choice land, put together fantastic architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical and other designs. We syndicated the financing for the project and even began the foundation. I remember clearly those who stormed PMAN Headquarters in Ikeja one afternoon to disrupt a meeting of the financing group. That was the day I decided to walk away from PMAN. Where is the PMAN Plaza today? I even hear that in shady circumstances, they have sold the land which I acquired for Nigerian musicians and that they pocketed the money.

Some of the same people who wrecked the PMAN Plaza are back. Driven by bad belle and fuelled by their MCSN mentality, they cannot see anything good in COSON House. That is their prerogative. I was at the COSON House site yesterday as I have been every day for months. There is still an incredible amount of work going on but COSON House is standing! Glory be to the Almighty.

See you next week....

NIGERIAN SINGER TOBY GREY CLOCKS 23 TODAY

Today, May 8 is Nigerian singer Toby Grey's birthday.

The beautiful songstress whose real names are Adeyemi Tobilola Maryam, clocks 23 today.

Happy Birthday Tobi Grey, from all of us at COSON.

Watch her latest video below.

Na U - Toby Grey ft Soma 

KSB SET TO RELEASE BOOK TITLED ''STOP! TURN IT AROUND'' TODAY

Music star and staunch COSON member, Kenny Saint Best, who is now an ordained Pastor, is set for her first book launch today.

The much anticipated book titled 'STOP! TURN IT AROUND'  will be launched today, Monday May 8, 2017 at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos by 5 pm and is expected to pull the creme da la creme of the society.

Watch

OKOROJI APPOINTED PATRON OF THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW CLUB OF O.A.U. ILE IFE

Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) who is one of Africa’s best known experts on Intellectual Property and an untiring campaigner for the respect of the rights of creative people across the continent, has been appointed Patron of the Intellectual Property Law Club of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.

In a letter just received by Chief Okoroji, the author of the book, ‘Copyright & the New Millionaires’, the President of the club, Miss Oluwatomisin Winner Apata wrote, “Words aren’t enough to express our deepest gratitude for your work of inestimable value in the field of Intellectual Property. You’ve not only fought through thick and thin to make Intellectual Property what it is today in Nigeria but you’ve also set the pace for the coming generation. You transformed Intellectual Property and brought it out from its world devoid of form or recognition and made it a force to be reckoned with, a topic that can if given a chance transform the Nigerian Economy. 

“As part of our appreciation sir, the Intellectual Property Law Club O.A.U. has decided to appoint you as our Patron subject to your approval sir. We’re a club with a vision of educating the society on the subject of Intellectual Property and as a result resolve to be part of such struggle for the recognition of Intellectual Property Rights, its protection and enforcement. We look forward to seeing Nigeria on its feet again with a strong economy that allows for creativity, recognition of such creative works and proper compensation. We pledge our allegiance to COSON to help in every and any way we can to promote its cause as it relates to our artists. We’d like to join the COSON family in celebrating the unveiling of the New COSON House.”

Chief Tony Okoroji, the celebrated former president of PMAN, has accepted the appointment.