COSON supports Multichoice in MCSN copyright case

The Federal Court in Lagos gave a judgement in favour of the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) in a lawsuit involving Multichoice Nigeria. Before the recent judgement was delivered, the case had dragged on for eight years.

According to COSON's embattled chairperson Tony Okoroji, who was speaking at a conference last week, the verdict given was a “bizarre and an attempt to turn the Nigeria music industry into a gold mine, from where those who have made no investments nor contributions to the industry can cart away illicit billions of naira while the true creators and investors in the industry languish in penury”.

Until recently, COSON had stood between the MCSN and its approval by the government of Nigeria as a collective management organisation (CMO). Last year, to COSON’s chagrin, the MCSN was approved. The Multichoice ruling was its first major legal victory since its approval.

But COSON is having none of it. “Some of us have spent practically our entire adult lives campaigning for the respect for intellectual property rights in our country,” Okoroji said.

"Our campaign has been for a responsible intellectual property system. Rather than help the collective management of copyright in Nigeria, the kind of shakedown of Multichoice, which will ruin entire companies, will turn decent people against the collective management of copyright and hurt our industry and our country. After Mutichoice, who will be next?”

COSON's argument is hinged partly on a technicality: the MCSN was yet to be approved at the date of infringement. "MCSN was facing seven pending criminal cases at the Federal High Court," Okoroji said.

COSON also claims to have the licence of some of the songs MCSN stated as having been infringed upon, speaking in favour of Multichoice's contribution to its host country.

"If Multichoice Nigeria, a single Nigerian company providing employment to hundreds if not thousands of our citizens, can be said to be liable up to the whopping sum of 6 billion naira [$16.6m] for copyright infringement in the broadcast of 18 songs, as reported by some newspapers since no one is yet to see a copy of the judgement, then it will require the entire national budget of Nigeria, South Africa and Egypt to pay for the entire Multichoice content," Okoroji said.