Okoroji says NCC should apologise to COSON

The Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) has demanded from the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) an unreserved apology to the thousands of members of COSON, the entire Nigerian creative community for the commission’s activities.

This was made known by Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman of COSON recently at a media parley in Lagos.

Enumerating the losses suffered by the country including millions of dollars in foreign investment, Chief Okoroji said, “While the NCC has been given the power to bring a CMO to life, it has not been given the power to kill a CMO”.

COSON has also asked that the NCC make appropriate restitution to COSON for allegedly harassing, and intimidating, the CMO and several of its officers and denying the Nigerian music industry billions of naira due to it.

Okoroji said, “For eight years, not one of the highly trained staff of COSON received his or her salary one day late. It is also a fact that no COSON member has ever paid any registration fee, monthly dues or subscription of any type yet every COSON member is entitled to some income from us every year.

“We are very proud of the success of COSON which is a product of the leadership’s laser focused dedication to our cause and the deft management of our resources.

“Unfortunately, the COSON success also became our albatross. As it became clear that we have broken the jinx and built an organization which across the continent was being celebrated and admired, several midnight plots and gang-ups began to emerge. COSON had become too successful with the magnificent COSON House shining and millions of naira in the bank. As a result, some people could no longer sleep. Suddenly, a plot was hatched by a handful of people to hijack for themselves COSON which we have built as a pan-Nigerian organization to provide succor to all owners of musical works and sound recordings in every nook and cranny of the Nigerian nation.”

Okoroji also accused the NCC of making regulations the copyright Act never gave it power to make.

“It is a fact that nowhere in Section 39 of the Copyright Act or any other Section of the Act or any other law is the NCC given the unilateral power to suspend, revoke or in any way restrict the approval given to a collecting society or embark on the audit of a collecting society or order the freezing of the bank accounts of a CMO without an order of court.”