Nigeria Content Online

Monday, December
13, 2010 witnessed the signing of Nigeria’s first group copyright
royalty agreement between Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) and
Wireless Application Service Providers Association of Nigeria (WASPAN).

COSON is Nigeria’s
sole approved collective management organisation for musical works and
sound recordings while WASPAN is the umbrella organisation for licensed
telecommunications content providers.

The ceremony took
place at COSON’s office in Ikeja and had in attendance Tony Okoroji,
COSON chair, Chinedu Chukwuji, the acting general manager, and the
representatives of some member companies of WASPAN.

Pathfinders and forerunners

Okoroji drew
attention to the significance and historic nature of the agreement at
the event. He described all those whose participation and contribution
had made the eventual agreement signing a reality as ‘pathfinders and
forerunners’ in the development of the intellectual property culture in
Nigeria.

The COSON chair
also referred to the extended period it took to negotiate the
agreement. “No contract is perfect and we could each have found a
thousand reasons everyday to keep changing the terms and avoid that
which we must do,” he said.

“If we had waited
for the perfect contract, we will never make progress. What is
important is that the parties keep acting in good faith and genuinely
work together to resolve any issues that may arise,” Okoroji added.

He praised WASPAN
for its promise to ensure that its members operate within the law so
that the abuse of the rights of artists and other investors in the
Nigerian music industry could be curbed and consequently eradicated.

Member companies of
WASPAN present at the ceremony included Funmobile, Cellulant Nigeria,
Text Nigeria and VAS2NETS among others. Aderinlola Simon, chief
executive officer of 3 Ways Communications spoke on behalf of the
member companies of WASPAN.

Responsible organisations

He said WASPAN is
a group of responsible corporate organisation committed to obeying the
directives from the Federal Government which stipulates that any
organisation that wants to use music had to follow certain procedures
which includes working with COSON.

Simon acknowledged
that there may be initial challenges in the process of implementing
some terms of the agreement and requested that COSON show understanding
with members who may have difficulties doing so.

Commenting on the development, Chinedu Chukwuji, acting general
manager of COSON said, “the event we have just witnessed is proof that
it can be done if people want to do the right thing.” He added that,
“All those looking for excuses to continue to use music free of charge
in Nigeria and feed fat from the labour of innocent artistes must
understand that there is no longer anywhere to hide. The more they try
to play hide and seek with COSON, the heavier the price they will
eventually pay. They may not know it but there is no place to hide
anymore.”