By Efe Omorogbe
With the welcome and timely intervention of the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission under the leadership of Mr. Emeka Mba, we seem to not only have averted a damaging showdown but also, created a grand opportunity to move into a new era where rights owners and commercial users operate in the productive and mutually beneficial business environment that will promote growth and progress.
I personally am grateful for the opportunities that the impasse has thrown up for more reasons than one. The chance to watch this drama unfold from a vantage position and see issues debated and players react in the most bemusing of ways is a priceless experience. Believe me. More than ever, the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ring loudly true:
‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy‘.
These are the FACTS of the matter:
It has and remains a simple issue complicated by a conflict of opposing objectives.
Music is intellectual property that costs a lot of effort, time and resources to create, perfect, package and sell.
The global standard remains that commercial exploitation of music must be predicated on licensing and compensation.
The complex nature of copyright administration necessitates the establishment of a collective management organisation (CMO) to handle the task of aggregating rights from owners, licensing users, collecting payments/royalties and distributing same to owners accordingly.
As applicable in other fields of human endeavour, the government regulates the sub sector based on the written laws of the land. The law empowers the Nigeria Copyright Commission (NCC) to screen applications, approve ONE collecting society for one category of rights, music and sound recording as in this case, and closely supervise the operations of that one society.
The approved CMO at the moment is the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON). It is the sole organisation approved to act as a collecting society in Nigeria at the moment and remains so until the government via the NCC sees a need to withdraw its approval or the National Assembly chooses to change the provisions of the copyright act.
So why all the dust and controversy? Simple. The long-drawn disagreements within the music industry has created a two-decade long regime of ‘free music’ for commercial users and a good number have become VERY reluctant to comply even after the government and the industry had clearly communicated the resolution of the crises and establishment of the legal machinery.
Of course, there remains a small minority of stakeholders who are not totally happy with the status quo for whatever reason but then, we live in a nation of laws and processes and there are legal channels open to those who seek redress for whatever perceived injustices they have suffered. That is their fundamental human right in my opinion and I concede to them the right to explore the legal provisions but certainly oppose their decision to deploy all kinds of unwholesome methods to achieve their goal.
Having said that, let me use this platform to address some of the most recurring questions I have had to treat in my one-on-one conversations with fellow stakeholders- artistes especially.
Q: What would happen if the NBC’s intervention does not help the situation?
A: There would be chaos of unimaginable proportion. The ban was intended as a tool to divide and conquer. The intention is to turn the artistes against COSON to destroy or weaken the society and it will backfire terribly.
Q: How so?
A: COSON would have to react, strongly. Broadcasting would be near impossible. Stations will need too many people- lawyers, music historians even witch doctors to draw up a simple playlist so as not infringe and invite countless lawsuits. Artiste a will give a user a ‘waiver’ to rights he or she does not control in the form of a sample, cleared or uncleared or a guest feature. 90% of the collabos we have today do not have written agreements to establish the limits to each person’s rights. So an artist will send an email to the radio station authorising the station to play ‘his/her’ music and the station will get slapped with a lawsuit if anyone – producer, co-writer, publisher, original composer or featured performer chooses to oppose the waiver and protect his/her own rights. Nobody needs that degree of wahala.
Q: Some artistes have gone behind to ask the radio stations to reinstate their music stating that they were not aligned with COSON’s position. What’s your take on that?
A: We would have been silly not to have anticipated that, wouldn’t we? Right from the get-go it was evident that our friends at the other side of the conversation were convinced some artistes would jump ship and banked on that.
And it’s understandable. There’s always going to be a few people who do not have enough information and therefore do not understand the issues well enough to make a sound decision. Some others who have completely bought the lie that the broadcasters are doing them a huge favour using their works and are inclined to be eternally grateful and subservient to their ‘benefactors’. And then, there would always be another group who know the facts, understand the issues but are either too cowardly or self-serving in a myopic short-term sense to make any kind of sacrifice for any collective long term goals. That’s one of the major problems we have with the larger society and musicians are a part of the Nigerian society.
Q: How am I supposed to stand my ground when artistes who are in competition with me are betraying the cause?
A: Focus on the reward and understand that this situation cannot continue for long. Find strength in the belief that you are saving your today, re-shaping the future and making an important contribution to the liberation of all creative people and their promoters in Nigeria.
Q: Why are some prominent artistes not defending the cause or better still, why are they the first to sell out on the industry?
A: They are in a better position to answer that but for me, ‘prominence’ as an artiste doesn’t necessarily mean knowledge of copyright/legal issues, understanding of the current situation, courage and fortitude or even leadership quality in times of resistance. And I have stated this time and again. It’s great that quite a good number of current heavy-hitters and eminent veterans have spoken out vociferously against the ban and insisted on total compliance to the laws of the land governing copyright and royalty payment but this is really more about issues than personalities. I got involved in this process in 2006. Working with other members of AM.B-Pro, I engaged with hundreds of stakeholders to work out solutions to the problems of structure, regulation, piracy and collective management. 90% of the so-called ‘prominent A list artistes then couldn’t really pass for A list by November 2009 when after merging with a host of other well-meaning industry associations we stepped our advocacy up a gear and declared ‘No Music Day’. This is 2014 and the fruits of the long struggle are evident for all to see. Half the A listers of 2009 are hardly visible today. Five years down the road when hopefully, collective management is thriving and COSON is distributing a billion Naira to right owners, half the A-listers today who are too busy or well paid to be concerned would be living off their catalogs and waiting for that royalty cheque to meet their most basic needs. This is what this is about and not about what a handful of ‘prominent’ musicians choose to do in consideration of clearly their own short term interest.
Q: The radio guys are calling us, telling us to withdraw our membership. They claim they want to pay but are not sure of the society’s accountability.
A: Ludicrous! It’s like saying I won’t obey the law and pay my taxes because I’m not sure if the government will spend the money judiciously. First you pay. Then you supply accurate logs. Then you demand accountability. That’s putting the cart before the horse. It is clearly fraudulent. And why hasn’t any artiste/member taken up the challenge to demand an audit of the books. It’s obviously more convenient to stay in the shadows, peddle gossip and hearsay and act like everybody else has got something to hide. I personally am happier to see members making direct enquiries and demanding to see the books and processes than hearing whispers or reading about bogus claims that no one seems able to provide any evidence in support of.
Q: They guys calling us advise that we should not let a few people at COSON who do not have much to protect ‘spoil our careers’ because we are the ones who have more of the music that they use.
A: Another blatant lie! The same guys claimed COSON didn’t have control of more than 10% of music in use before the ban and after they reeled out the list of artistes affected the question on everyone’s lips was ‘who come remain?’ I’ve been reluctant to name names but let me mention just a few persons/organisations driving COSON at board and advisory committee levels. Dare Fasasi (Baba Dee, Sound Sultan, Naija Ninja catalog), Obi Asika (Storm catalog), Audu, Yahaya Maikori and Paul Okeugo (Choc City catalog), Toju Ejueyitchie (Premier music catalog), Erelu Keji Okunowo (Sony music catalog), just to mention a few. I reject the argument that because some ‘prominent’ artiste whose catalog is 4-6 album strong chooses to throw away his/her rights, persons and institutions like Evangelist Ebenezzar Obey and Sir Victor who between both of them have over 150 albums, Premier Music Publishing with thousands of titles in their repertoire should follow suit. That you choose to throw away your dime does not mean the next man should throw away his dollar.
PS: The legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti vehemently resisted royalty-free broadcast of his music at a time when a lot of his ‘prominent’ colleagues wouldn’t join the fight. He was reported to have in fact, requested that his music should not be played on radio at a time when others held the opinion that their survival depended on ‘promo’ by radio/tv stations. Fela passed on but unlike a number of his prominent colleagues, his family didn’t need public contribution to pay for his hospital bill or funeral. Worse still, it is the same catalog of music left by the ‘prominent’ artistes of yesteryears which inspires the hit songs of today but can not generate money to maintain the loved ones left behind that is been disrespected by the broadcast media practitioners who call ‘prominent’ artistes of today and tell them to dump the struggle and not let people who have ‘nothing to protect’ knock their hustle as it is their music that is being used because they are the only generation of creators that are RELEVANT. Check that out. You have to be a dumb and utterly desperate coward to buy that.
Let the music pay.
