NCC Approves MCSN As A Collecting Society
The Nigerian Copyright
Commission (NCC) has finally approved the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN)
to operate as a Collecting Management Organization (collecting society) in
compliance with the Attorney General and Minister of Justice’s directive,
In a letter signed by the
Director General of the NCC, Mr. Afam, the
Commission referred to the
directive of the Attorney General, Abubakar Malami,
SAN, of March 22, 2017,
pursuant to Section 50 of the Copyright Act, Cap C28, LFN 2004, to convey the Commission’s
approval to MCSN to operate as collecting management organisation for musical works
and sound recordings in Nigeria.
The MCSN had, in 2009,
applied to the NCC for it to be approved as collecting management organisation,
but the Commission, in a letter dated May 20, 2010, refused MCSN approval without
giving any reason.
The MCSN headed to the
Federal High Court to quash the decision. It also approached the National
Assembly, which directed its joint committees on Justice and Judiciary, to look
into the matter.
The committees conducted an investigative
public hearing and established that MCSN was unjustly refused approval, following
which the NASS passed a series of resolutions, one of which was the directive
to the NCC to approve/license MCSN to operate as a collecting society
forthwith. The NCC, however, refused to carry out the NASS’s directive.
With the coming of the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, MCSN again complained to the
Attorney General, Justice Malami, who, after another round of investigation,
agreed with the findings and resolution of the NASS, and directed the NCC to
issue, with immediate effect, an approval, by way of license, to the MCSN to
operate as a collecting society for the purpose of the Copyright Act.
The NCC’s compliance is
expected to bring the crisis which has hit the copyright sector for more than
25 years, to an effective and permanent end.
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