Obiwon and wife welcome new daughter

Nigerian singer Obiwon and wife Nkechi welcomed a daughter into their lives on September 4.
Obiwon is known for the hit songs Onyinye, Obi mu o.

Congratulations to the couple from all of us at COSON. 

NO MUSIC DAY, 2012 - MUSIC INDUSTRY CALLS FOR PRESIDENT JONATHAN’S ORDER ON INTERVENTION FUND

The Nigerian Music Industry Coalition has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to give immediate marching orders to the organizations and individuals managing the Entertainment Industry Intervention Fund to take urgent steps to ensure that the fund begins to have impact on the employment situation in the creative industries in Nigeria.

Addressing the media on ‘The State of the Nigerian Music Industry’ as part of  the events of NO MUSIC DAY 2012, marked on September 1, Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, said, ‘Once again, on the critical issue of funding, there is growing disappointment and peculating conclusion that both the Growth in Employment in States Fund (GEMS) and the Entertainment Industry Intervention Fund announced by President Goodluck Jonathan two years ago, which created so much initial buzz, will end up as another big disappointment and seen as sad political gimmicks. As we mark No Music Day today, we call on President Jonathan to order the Bank of Industries (BOI), the Nigerian Export & Import Bank (NEXIM), the Federal Ministry of Commerce & Investments and everyone connected with the funds to do what is necessary to make sure that they begin to have impact on the industry and help to create the badly needed employment. Presently, the more we look, the less we see.’

NO MUSIC DAY is a day set aside on September 1 of every year by the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition, a coalition of the key national associations in the Nigerian music industry,  to draw attention to the massive abuse of the rights of composers, song writers, performers, music publishers and other stakeholders in the Nigerian music industry. NO MUSIC DAY, 2012 was the fourth in the series since its creation in 2009.

Brand Endorsements, Public Performances Not Enough for Progress of Music In Nigeria - Mr. Kazie Uko

Mr. Kazie Uko of Skkot Plus Nigeria Ltd

Chief Executive Officer of Skkot Plus Nigeria Ltd, Consultants to the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Mr. Kazie Uko has said that the growth of the music industry in Nigeria depends largely on the royalties right owners receive from their investments and not just on public performances at musical concerts or on brand endorsements.

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DSTV SUBSCRIPTION NOT THE SAME AS COPYRIGHT PAYMENT - OKOROJI TELLS HOTELS & RESTAURANTS

Tony Okoroji

Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji has said that the payment of DSTV subscription by hotel and restaurant owners in Nigeria is not the same as payment for music copyright. He made this known while addressing a cross section of the press at the recent licensing agreement signing ceremony between COSON and MultiChoice Nigeria, operators of DSTV, which took place at the exquisite Oriental Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos.

 

Said Chief Okoroji, “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”. Chief Okoroji also clarified that individuals who subscribe to DSTV and do not use the subscription in a business or public setting need no copyright licence for the full enjoyment by themselves, families or friends of the music and sound recordings received.

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".

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.

COSON WELCOMES CISAC BOSS TO NIGERIA

The headquarters of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) was very busy this past week as the society played host to one of the gurus of copyright collective management in the world, Mr. Robert Hooijer.

Mr. Hooijer, former Chief Executive Officer of South African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO) and who until recently was the Acting CEO of the Paris based International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) was in Nigeria on a two day working visit to COSON.

Receiving Mr. Hooijer at the COSON office in Lagos, the COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, told the CISAC boss that COSON is proud to be an important part of the great CISAC family represented in 121 countries of the world and that COSON is determined to be a model Collective Management Organization and that nothing is being spared to make COSON one of the most effective CMOs in the African continent within the shortest possible time.