See COSON in action...WATCH 6 MONTHS AT THE SPEED OF COSON
The decision to set up COSON is a result of a broad based agreement between the owners of musical works, the users of the works and the statutory regulators on the need of the industry to close ranks and have one formidable national collective management organization to promote and protect the copyright of practitioners in the Nigerian music industry. COSON will also ensure that the rights of persons from other lands who have interest in music used in Nigeria are protected.
It was in the year 2000 that it was agreed between the existing collective management structures that those structures must be collapsed into COSON to bring to an end the schism and undue rivalry in the collective management of rights in the music industry. It was not until the formation of the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition in 2009, that it was decided that the time had come to take the bull by the horn. All known stakeholder groups in Nigeria were invited to the table to develop the architecture for collective management in Nigeria. At the end of several weeks of consultations and consensus building, it was resolved that:-
• Urgent steps should be taken to bring about the formation of Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) which had long been agreed to by major stakeholder organizations in the industry.
• The emerging organization must be professional, transparent, accountable and fully democratic.
• The new organization must be fully operational as soon as it is set up in order not to create a vacuum in copyright licensing.
• In order to fast track the processes, existing structures of collective management and expertise already available in the industry should be utilized.
Following the above resolutions, all stakeholder groups were invited to contribute to the take off of COSON. COSON is a non-profit making organization governed by an Interim Management Board representing the different stakeholder groups. The Interim Management Board will serve the members for two years.
Membership of COSON is open to all owners of copyright or neighbouring rights in musical works or sound recordings. Upon take off, COSON acquired the membership of most of the celebrated icons of Nigeria’s evergreen sounds like Ebenezer Obey, Victor Uwaifo, Onyeka Onwenu, Dan Maraya Jos, Christy Essien Igbokwe, etc as well as the trail blazers of Nigeria’s music of the new millennium such as 2face, Sammie Okposo, Timaya, J. Martins, Eldee, Omowumi, Olu Maintain, 9ice, Rugged Man, Sound Sultan, DJ Stramborella, 2 Shotz and hundreds of others. COSON will also offer a big umbrella to thousands of copyright owners joining
from the different groups that make up the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition. Foreign owners of copyright and neighbouring rights may also benefit from the protection offered by COSON through affiliation. There is no discrimination in COSON as all those entitled to membership are admitted at no cost whatsoever, whether they are young or old.
In addition to its members, COSON will serve its music-user licensees by offering them access to a most valuable cultural asset: the huge repertoire of copyright-protected music which is highly in demand in Africa’s most populous nation and beyond.
How Coson Works »»
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