By Victor Enengedi
The Copyright Society of Nigeria, (COSON) has asked the National and State Assemblies to make sure government-owned broadcast stations respect Nigeria’s copyright law.
Speaking at this year’s ‘No Music Day’ celebrations on Sunday, September 1, 2013, the COSON chairman, Tony Okoroji said the society’s success since it began in 2010 cannot be fully understood if proper efforts aren’t made to ensure that music users across the country respect copyright laws.
‘We call on the National Assembly to ensure that forthwith, clear provisions are made in the budgets of all Federal government owned broadcast stations for the payment of copyright royalties. We refuse to accept a situation where the stations continue with the open stealing of the intellectual property of innocent creative people simply because there is no budget for the payment for the key raw material they deploy in their operations.’
Put together by the Nigeria Music Industry Coalition, a coalition of the key national associations in the music industry across Nigeria, the ‘No Music Day’ was intended to draw national attention to the widespread infringement of the rights of composers, song writers, performers, music publishers, and other stakeholders in the music industry.
