COSON wins protracted copyright case against Calabar Carnival

According to local media, the court upheld a 2018 judgment, ordering the payment to the collective management organisation for copyright infringement during the festival, in addition to a permanent injunction preventing the use of musical works from the COSON repertoire at Calabar Carnival.

COSON initiated legal action in 2014 against the Cross River State government and the state’s carnival commission, alleging unauthorised copying, public communication and broadcasting of musical works and sound recordings owned by COSON’s members, affiliates, assignors and licensors during the annual Calabar Carnival and Festival.

Subsequently, the state government and the carnival commission, dissatisfied with the court’s decision, appealed the judgment, but their appeal was unsuccessful.

COSON chairperson Tony Okoroji expressed his gratitude to the panel of justices for upholding the intellectual property rights of creative individuals in Nigeria.

“It took us nine years of stringent legal battle to win this historic victory for Nigerian musicians and the entire creative family. It is our legacy for the coming generation,” he said.

“Our unshaken commitment and resilience are at the heart of this victory. The monetary award is important, but more important is the precedent set by the courts. It might seem expensive to obtain a licence to publicly deploy musical works, but it is far more expensive not to get such a licence.”

In December 2021, the Federal High Court ruled that COSON’s operating licence had lapsed. The ruling followed COSON’s substantive application for an injunction against the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in 2020.