Stop imposing COSON on Nigerians-PMAN tells NCC

The leadership of the Care taker Committee of the Performing Musicians Association, PMAN, has called on the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), to obey the directive of the National Assembly in its Votes & Procedures of December 18, 2013, and register without further delay, the Musical Collection Society of Nigeria (MCSN).
According to a statement from the musicians’ body signed by its Chairman, Kevin Lucciano Gabriel, the failure of NCC to register MCSN despite the National Assembly’s directive was unjust and exploitative.
“The issue of collective management is confronting the industry right now.  While the NCC is paying deaf ears and imposing only one society on Nigerian music makers and stakeholders, the National Assembly, has directed the NCC to at once give due recognition to MCSN since Nigerian law does not provide for monopoly in the business of collective administration.”
Alleging a deliberate attempt to continue to impose a particular collecting society on Nigerians, Lucciano continued: “It’s sad that the NCC has refused to carry out this directive. Our investigations reveal that there is a cabal within the top echelon of the NCC, which is using the only approved society, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), to continue to exploit Nigerian musicians.”
Calling on the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Bello Adoke, to use his good offices for a speedy resolution of the crisis, Lucciano added:
“We believe the Honourable Attorney General has a primary duty to advance and protect the fundamental human and constitutional rights of Nigerian citizens as guaranteed by the constitution.  We therefore call on the Attorney General to step in and correct this since he has the powers under the Copyright Act to direct the NCC to carry out the directive of the National Assembly immediately.
“We want to warn here that BON and IBAN vis-à-vis their members should not negotiate or pay any royalty to COSON until the NCC carries out the directives of the National Assembly as contained in its Votes and Procedures of 18th December 2013. Nigerian musicians have the constitutional right to choose which organisation or person to affiliate with like other Nigerians.”
The statement also thanked all states’ Chairmen and Governors of PMAN for their continued support for the Committee and called on dissenting voices to join hands with the Committee and build a strong and virile union, adding that PMAN in the days ahead would be following up with appropriate actions to ensure a conducive atmosphere for music practitioners in the country.
The caretaker Committee was born following a successful peace initiative led by music stakeholders. Among others it seeks to re-engineer PMAN and has embarked on extensive consultations with industry stakeholders.