The Nigeria Creative Industry
Group CIG has condemned the act of Multichoice after paying the sum of N120
million to Tony Okoroji’s defunct Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON),, and
has demanded that matter be investigated by law enforcement agents.
Speaking to newsmen on Monday,
February 8 2021, Nosa Omoregie Oloto,
the association spokesperson stated that the decision of Multichoice Nigeria
Limited to deny Nigerian Musicians of their hard earned royalties by making
illegal payment is both cruel and irresponsible and should be probed into by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC.
He wrote;
The Creative Industry Group has
been sufficiently briefed about the irrational decision of Multichoice to pay a
defunct organization, the sum of N120 million naira for the royalties that are
supposed to go to music artistes and content creators.
Multichoice as a reputable brand
cannot claim to be ignorant of the fact that COSON’s licence has since been suspended by the Nigerian
Copyright Commission (NCC) over 3 years ago after failing to submit to Forensic
Audit as its members were not satisfied with the Organization for objectionable
and questionable practices.
We want to put it on record that
CIG is following the event as it unfolds and will not hesitate to mobilize for
a wholesale boycott of subscribers if it refuses to admit guilt and do the
needful.
As a frontline movement I the
creative industry, we will not accommodate any form of fraudulent practice at
the detriment and expense of our creative minds who have worked hard to
disburse creative materials that Multichoice has decided to misuse.
It is disheartening that
Multichoice went ahead to file Notice of Appeal in matter that is obviously
anti-progressive to the collective interest of creative industry that it solely
depends on for content acquisition.
We are also aware of some
elements who believe they can dictate to the Supreme Court to rule in their
favour and upturn the N5.9 billion judgment against Multichoice Nigeria
Limited., and we shall be waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court on the
matter.
The music industry has grown
tremendously over the last few years to the admiration of local and
international audiences, fans and players. We cannot afford to allow ourselves
be portrayed as a bunch of jokers or renegades, who can be used and dumped by
content merchant who sees creative minds as transitory elements”.
The group calls on Nigerian
government and law enforcement agencies to rescue the creative industry from
the clutches of Multichoice and its allies in the industry.
“We also call on all genuine
right owners to condemn and resist this crass attempt to blackmail and
intimidate artists.”, he added
Comments
Post a comment