Tag: MCSN

I have followed your two-part dialogue on the above subject, which was very interesting and confirms once again that most ordinary Nigerians are very discerning, intelligent and know the rudiments of a just society, contrary to Tony Okoroji’s allegory and apparent insult on you and your colleagues’ literary profundity.

No reasonable person can say that the operations of copyright and CMOs are not businesses. Any activity that involves consideration and offer, paying and receiving money under whatever guise, contractual obligations and rights, is a business. CMO or copyright is therefore a business; the way it is done may be different from the way the business of buying and selling or banking is done. The business of copyright, (which is classified as property under the Copyright Act and the Constitution) and CMO is just like the business of a property owner, his agent and those interested in the buying or use of the property, for example between a landlord, estate agent and tenant.

We do not know from where Okoroji got his authority that CMO’s should operate as a monopoly, especially in a constitutional democracy under which Nigeria is governed. Britain which he cited in his comment does not operate a compulsory monopoly; not minding that he wanted to confuse his readers by saying that Performing Rights Society, PRS, is a de facto monopoly. The fact remains that PRS is not a de jure monopoly for performing rights. It is not even a monopoly going by the very recent example when creators (artistes) from Wales formed a new society to look after their performing rights in concerts. Okoroji also fails to let his readers know that there still exists Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) which administers mechanical rights in musical and other related works. There is equally a Performers’ Right Society which broke out from Phonograph Performance Limited (PPL), aside from other societies such as Video Performance Limited operating in the United Kingdom within the music sphere. It should be underscored that “monopoly” in collective administration of copyright evolves voluntarily and is never forced. PRS, ASCAP, BMI and other big societies across the world have variously been investigated by their various authorities to find out if they operate as monopoly or abuse their strong status.

It is not true that Musical Copyright Society Nigeria, MCSN, prevented other societies from emerging when it was the only one operating. Thank God, Moses Ekpo, the first Director General of Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC, is still alive and can confirm or deny the fact that MCSN wrote a proposal asking the then Director General to allow as many societies as possible to emerge, concluding that not more than one or at most two would survive at the end of the day, and it would be along specific interests. That was in 1991 or thereabout. MCSN cautioned then of the consequences of trying to legislate into existence a monopoly organisation as those which are already in existence, like MCSN, will definitely refuse to be legislated out of existence for any new organisation which the NCC may want to midwife. That advice was thrown overboard and we all know what happened when Performing Mechanical Rights Society, PMRS, was midwifed by Okoroji and the cabal in the NCC, when he (Okoroji) was a member of the Governing Board of NCC. That recommendation and prediction of MCSN is still valid till today and would be till tomorrow as COSON is certainly living on borrowed time just like its predecessor, PMRS.

Coming to the Copyright Act and judgments of the courts; any neophyte in the Nigerian Law School in a democracy knows that any Act of Parliament and judgment obtained in relation to it are subject to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Likewise, a law becomes ultimate only when it passes judicial test or interpretation. In September 2004, MCSN secured a Court of Appeal judgment in the case of Musical Copyright Society Nigeria Limited vs Adeokin Records Co. & Another, Appeal No. CA/L/498/97, which affirms its locus standi to sue for the infringement and enforcement of its copyright against the defendants. Considering all aspects of the copyright law including the amendments to it, the Court of Appeal then declared that MCSN for all times has the full rights as an owner, assignee and exclusive licensee of copyright to protect its vested rights. It went on to dismiss the preliminary objection brought against MCSN’s case by the Defendants. In March 2010, the same Court of Appeal considered only Sections 17 and 39 of the Copyright Act 2004 and concluded that MCSN should secure the approval or exemption of the NCC as a collecting society before it can sue and went on to uphold the preliminary objection of Compact Discs Technologies & Ors. On July 1, 2011, the same Court of Appeal considered yet another preliminary objection brought by Visafone Limited in Appeal No. CA/L/494/09 between Visafone Limited vs. Musical Copyright Society Nig. Ltd., relying heavily and solely on the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the Compact Discs’ case, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the preliminary objection and returned Visafone to face trial for the infringement of MCSN’s copyright and determine the constitutional issues raised therein.

From the above sequence, it is clear that MCSN’s rights and locus stand intact but not to the jaundiced understanding and interpretation of Okoroji. Just on Monday, October 8, 2012, the Federal High Court dismissed a preliminary objection brought by Multichoice Nigeria Limited against a N5.2 Billion counterclaim instituted by MCSN after considering the same Compact Discs’ judgment which Okoroji is still celebrating. I hope he would have by now woken up from his pipe dream and faced reality that MCSN is talking law and facts, not fantasies.

It’s so funny that Okoroji is comparing the charade happening in NCC with what is happening in NAFDAC, NBC, CBN and other regulatory agencies. First thing to note is that no serious and reasonable regulatory agency would make it its target to eliminate organisations which were already existing and on ground in order to bring in new ones into existence; rather they would work with the existing ones to strengthen their regulatory powers. When the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) came, it met NTA, FRCN and states’ broadcasting organisations on ground; what it did was to harmonise its regulations to make these existing organisations continue under its regulatory influence. The same applied to NAFDAC and other agencies.

The moment the NCC chose to toe the path of eliminating MCSN for a yet-to-be-formed collecting society, which later became PMRS and now COSON, it started to toe the path of its own elimination. No wonder the NCC has been listed as one of the parastatals to be rationalised by the Oransanye’s Commission. Incidentally the judgment of the Federal High Court in the case MCSN & 5 Ors vs. NCC & 5 Ors, Suit No. FHC/L/CS/35/08, described NCC as an obstacle to the enjoyment of copyright, a fundamental human right, by copyright owners.

Okoroji stated that MCSN went alone to apply for approval from NCC instead of joining COSON. If the NCC knew that it would not follow the law and its own regulations, why did it publish the regulations calling for applications from interested organisations willing to be approved as collecting societies? Why did it collect whopping application fee of N250,000 in the first instance from MCSN? Why did it send a verification team to verify MCSN’s claim? Why did it not just tell the world that it was forming an all embracing organisation and direct everyone having interest to dissolve into or join hands in forming the organisation, which would be clearly understood to be state-owned or a government parastatal? Is Okoroji now saying that COSON is created and owned by the Federal Government or NCC?

It is also false to say that the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation asked MCSN and its members to integrate or dissolve into COSON. The AGF clearly directed all parties to seek judicial resolution to the problem and advised all parties to respect judicial decisions and obey the rule of law. The letter from the NCC containing the AGF’s directive dated 10th August 2011 is herewith attached.

What qualifies Okoroji to pontificate on copyright laws and practice, particularly on collective administration? Was he trained in any institution on the subject? Has he ever successfully managed any collective administration institution? Did he go to any academic institution to study copyright? If yes, to any of the questions, where and when? I challenge him to truthfully answer these questions.

Soon, very soon, the chicken would come home to roost. We ponder the fate of Okoroji on that day of reckoning…

-Orits Williki is Chairman, MCSN

DEAR Victor, I found your article, ‘the NCC, MCSN, COSON Triangle’ published in The Nation in two parts on Saturday, September 29 and October 6, 2012 very interesting. I am a sucker for unique literary styles and the style of the article was such that I could not but say, ‘fantastic!’ There was quite a bit to make one laugh but that could not have been your intention. Yes, the article was quite hilarious but at the end it was also informative.

For instance, the conversation behind the article revealed the extent to which key facts in the development of collective management of copyright in Nigeria remain unfamiliar to important people who the public may consider knowledgeable in the area and probably would depend on for information. That tells me clearly that despite writing a major book on the subject and hosting numerous copyright forums, there is still a lot of work for people like me to do to continuously inform and educate people on the subject of collective management which I must confess can be rather confusing, even to brilliant people.

The conversation was also revealing as to how emotive we all can be when the issues concern people who are our friends or family. It also shows how creative we become in finding justification for that which if it had to do with other people, we would have whole heartedly condemned.

The other observation I need to make is how propaganda repeated over and over starts looking like facts even in the eyes of the architect of the propaganda. Nowhere has this become more real than in the ‘shouting match’ over CMOs where the positions taken by most people are not based on the facts or the law but on which side ‘my friend’ belongs to.

Considering that my name was mentioned at least ten times in the article and my photographs used to illustrate the write up on the internet, I believe that I have earned the right to comment on the article and The Nation has an obligation to publish my comments.

I believe that a critical error in the discourse on collective management in Nigeria is the assumption that a CMO is a private business enterprise and ‘Okoroji and Ayilaran ought to be allowed to own their own’. That is why the word ‘monopoly’ is everywhere in your article. Those who have called for ‘liberalization’ may believe that only COSON and MCSN will exist as a result. They are wrong. The truth is that you cannot then stop any group of 419ers from calling themselves a CMO or stop them from collecting money from home and abroad and pocketing the money. Imagine the chaos that will result from ten CMOs unleashed on users of music in Nigeria.

I wish to repeat that a CMO is not a business organization. Under Nigerian law, it must be a company limited by guarantee and forbidden from making profit. A CMO is a closely regulated facilitator that stands in trust between the owners of the works and users and ensures that the rights and duties of each are respected. A CMO only makes deductions approved by the regulators for its administration. While I am an elected Chairman of COSON and I defend the rights of every member of COSON with all the vigour I can muster, I am not the owner of COSON. COSON is not my private business. During my tenure, COSON is growing and acquiring assets but none of these assets belongs to me or any member of the COSON board and none of us will leave office with even a stapler belonging to COSON. COSON is not like MTN, Airtel, Glo or Etisalat which are business concerns. COSON in a way is a non-profit public trust similar to NBA, NMA, NUJ or PMAN, all of which are de facto monopolies. I was at the headquarters of PRS for Music of the UK a few months back. This organization from which most of the English speaking world draws inspiration in collective management, is a de facto monopoly with respect to the licensing of performing and mechanical rights in music in the UK.

Another falsehood being simulated is that COSON is interested in a monopoly while the unapproved MCSN wants liberalization. Does anyone really think that if MCSN had been approved instead of COSON, its leaders would have encouraged another CMO to operate in the same field? During the period that I was president of PMAN, the same MCSN did everything to discourage the emergence of another CMO being promoted by PMAN arguing vigorously that the existence of more than one CMO in the field will create chaos in the industry.

I want to state emphatically that there is no attempt to exclude any right owner from the collective management system in Nigeria and a sole CMO does not exclude anyone. What we have set out to do is to sing with one voice and end the divide and rule game which the powerful users of music have deployed for many years to pauperize musicians and the music industry in our country. Every reasonable person in our industry has long understood that with collective management, together we stand, divided we fall. I was involved in the many years of efforts to bring unity to the collective management system in the Nigerian music industry. There is no compromise that was not presented to the leaders of MCSN for the industry to work together but they refused. Eventually, every other group in the industry decided to come together under COSON and the leaders of MCSN chose to take the risk of applying for approval alone. They fully knew what the law says and that there would be huge consequences if they failed to obtain approval. They failed! Now I read the convoluted arguments that the law should be jettisoned and that MCSN should be allowed to operate even without approval!

Even when MCSN failed to get approval, COSON opened its doors to MCSN members and their staff to join COSON and work with us for the good of the industry. The Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello-Adoke, repeatedly appealed to the leaders of MCSN to integrate themselves into COSON. Many former MCSN members joined COSON. No member of MCSN who applied to join COSON was rejected. There has been no discrimination against any member of MCSN in COSON, some of whom have been elected to the COSON Board. In COSON, we are working as one family and today COSON is distributing millions of naira to right holders, millions which would have been lost to the industry and this is being done transparently. The big and previously untouchable users of music are being taken on in a way we could never do. The collective management system is finally working in Nigeria yet we are being told that we should go back to the chaos of the MCSN/PMRS era so as to appease one man who has never composed a song and his friends.

Repeatedly mentioned in the conversation behind your article is the judgment of Hon Justice Charles Archibong of the Federal High Court Lagos in favour of MCSN. I have my views on the reasoning behind that judgment but a judgment of a court is a judgment whether we like it or not. A great example of the selective amnesia displayed by those who spoke in your article is that no one mentioned the well-known judgment by a full panel of the Court of Appeal, Lagos in MCSN v. CDT which in any other clime should have brought the activities of MCSN to an immediate halt. No matter how you spin it, every person who went to school knows that a Court of Appeal judgment takes precedence over a high court judgment. MCSN knows the devastating effect of the Court of Appeal judgment which was why they rushed to appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court where the appeal was thrown out.

In Nigeria, no one can operate a GSM company without the approval of the Nigerian Communications Commission. Woe betide you if you try to run a bank in Nigeria without a CBN licence. You cannot even sell pure water in Nigeria without the approval of NAFDAC and it is not for us to choose which law to obey and which to disobey. The leaders of MCSN are trying to start a ‘human-rights’ media hype to confuse everyone, deflect the real issues and mask their rabid lawlessness. This is a strategy they have used effectively for many years but it won’t work this time. They are trying to use bold face, pretend to be the victims when indeed they have for long victimized everyone. They want to hide under the law to protect themselves from their lawlessness but he who comes to equity must first wash his hands clean.

Afam Ezekude, the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission, does not make laws in Nigeria. His job is to enforce the law as it is in the books without fear or favour. The law is clear that it is a crime to operate a CMO without the approval of the NCC. The leaders of MCSN know this well but have continued to operate an unapproved CMO. Under five different DGs of the NCC, MCSN has requested for approval. Each time the request has been refused and MCSN has continued to operate despite its non-approval. The Attorney General of the Federation has intervened and asked the MCSN leadership to respect the law and they ignored him. The Court of Appeal clearly told them that they cannot continue with what they are doing and they ignored the court. They went to the Supreme Court and their matter was thrown out yet they want to be above the law, impose themselves on the Nigerian nation and use an unapproved and unregulated body to feast on innocent music users and innocent musicians. Those who truly care about the MCSN people must find the courage to tell them that they cannot deploy propaganda to wriggle and dodge the consequences of their actions forever. NCC must uphold the law because Nigeria is not a banana republic. It is about time.

—Tony Okoroji is Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON)

D: @A, the matter open. Me no accuse anybody o. Na dia biznes dem dey o, so happy bizness.

A: I no talk say you accuse. This is a fight between NCC and MCSN over the humiliation done on NCC by MCSN. This much I know because I am very close to MCSN and to some extent, NCC.

H: Any where there is monopoly in any business concern, the people suffer more than the Job. NITEL on my mind.

E: @G, you are on point.

A: @G, you are right, by saying the more the merrier, but can you affiliate with a body in America which American government says is illegal?

G: Let more collecting society pay!

A: You have not answered my question @G.

D: What has affiliation got to do with it sef? Dem don fit collet the royalties for Nigeria finish, then na the ones for abroad remain?

A: ‘G’ is the one stoking the fire of international affiliation as the reason why MCSN should be allowed to operate as a CMO without approval by the regulatory body.

D: Is affiliation not for collaboration purposes? How many outfits are paying royalties in Nigeria? If you like collaborate with Obama, if you never fit put your house in order, forget it. The dummy MCSN sold for years about a collabo with CISAC, sebi COSON don get the same collabo with CISAC? Nigeria should be the focus here first.

G: A, this is not even about affiliations. That’s far from the matter. The point is that the creative industry is such a large landscape to have just one right administrator. Those who made that law that conferred the ‘sole’ right on COSON, to my mind were very selfish and didn’t think about the possibility that the industry will expand as it has done in the last few years.

Let’s face the fact; COSON cannot go this journey alone. Even that Adewopo’s proposal of a merger was a move that will forever remain impossible. You can’t have a merger between two organisations that are in business for motives that are best to known to them. Interestingly I am hoping on making this my dissertation topic. I have just gotten sponsorship to study other societies and from my preliminary findings, it’s the more the merrier.

I like the COSON energy and their drive and their desire to rewrite collective rights environment, but the point to be made is that there should be no monopoly in the creative industry. People should go where they want and get paid according to the power of the collecting society! That’s my take.

G: If I were MCSN, I will get the artistes under my fold out on the streets for a sustained lobby and protest. I should be able to entrust my ‘future’ into the hands of an organisation of my choice. Why did they not appoint just one pension fund administrator in Nigeria? They made it open because in matters like this, the market forces have to decide.

H: Monopoly has never and will never be a better option. Do we still remember NITEL? Even before Globacom emerged, we bought SIM cards with our blood.

G: That’s the point; it’s my right and I should entrust it to who I like! But I know we will get there. It’s just a matter of time. That sector will be liberalized as they did to the broadcast and telecommunication industries.

B: My ogas, please let’s get our fact straight. As much as we might all have divided opinions, COSON has no hand in this. The case is strictly between NCC and MCSN. @’G’, If you say that ‘the more, the merrier’, are you suggesting that MCSN should continue its operations, even after the official regulatory body has told them not to do so? @’F’, nobody forced anyone to be a member of COSON. Not even the government. COSON is not controlled by Okoroji, but rather by the same musicians whose rights are being collected on their behalf

I: @’B’, bros, I didn’t know this hidden side of yours, but while you are here, spare us the hocus pocus of “COSON is not concerned; its NCC/MCSN”. You are doing your job well, but we know the undertone. In summary, we hia u sir.

B: @’I’. Job or not, I am sure of what am saying. Are you saying that MCSN is not subject to NCC as a CMO?

I: It’s the case of the accused turning to the complainant. Like ‘A’ said, NCC is miffed at the judgment MCSN got against them, especially preventing access to their account. But seriously, NCC is hand in gloves with your office. MCSN got a judgment, are you saying the judgment is thrash? And because it’s NCC, they can flout it and raid MCSN at will? Mind you sir, the judgment was also given because NCC raided MCSN unduly years ago.

G: ‘B’, they didn’t need to ‘outlaw’ MCSN in the first place. They would have allowed the two to operate and forge partnership themselves, not force them to merge into a body.

B: COSON is well regulated, and NCC can verify the account whenever it chooses to. It is not a one-man show. While it might seem a better option to have more CMOs operating in the country, the interested organization should operate under the ambit of the law. If it were that easy to set up a CMO without regulation, then every Tom, Dick and Harry can just set it up; they would claim to have members and then embark on illegal collection of copyrights. But there is a law and it is only normal that such laws should be obeyed

H: @’B’, you are right on point. I think the issue here is not even about COSON, NCC is the issue. The laws must be obeyed, but NCC should not close the doors and encourage monopoly.

B: As much as most of us might disagree with the new Lagos traffic laws, we must obey before we complain. It is the law of the land, however unfavourable it might appear.

C: Let me take this matter from the roots. How old is MCSN? How old is COSON? Who started this collection thing first? Was NCC aware of that body then? Has any artiste complained about any fraudulent act by the said body? Ok. If there’s a need to have one body (which I totally disagree with), is it not more sensible to use the body already on ground, with international recognition? Assuming there were lapses in their operation, why not talk about righting the wrongs and allow the company be? Why toe the difficult path of registering a new body and forcing the old one to shut its operations? Why is COSON afraid of open market? We are Nigerians; let’s stop fooling ourselves with stupid ‘laws’.

H: Again entertainment journalists have not helped matters. I suggest we begin to ask more probing questions by taking NCC to task.

G: Mr. ‘B’, it’s convenient for you to talk about operating within the ambit of the law because COSON is ‘recognised’! Have you stopped to ask yourself why the NCC is taking on the arduous task of registering CMO’s? They really don’t have any business with that. It’s like our fight with NFVCB (National Film and Video Censors Board) when they got too involved in distribution. Elsewhere, these bodies are set up as limited liability companies by guarantees and operate within the ambit of a duly registered corporate entity. Why is our own different. And @’A’, it’s not about international affiliation alone. MCSN has been there long ago. The NCC didn’t need to call for fresh registration of new bodies. All it should have done was to register the two and allow a level playing field. Besides NCC has so much they have not done than to bother with approving CMOs. It’s a pity for Mayo and co, but joy will come in the morning for them. The more will be the merrier in no distant future.

B: @’C’, it is not by quarrel. The question here is what parameters did NCC look at to register COSON. COSON was set up, not by Okoroji, but by a coalition of professionals involved in making music with the backing of the musicians themselves; both the old and the new. Nobody forced anybody. You choose where you want to belong. And since COSON was set up and controlled by them, the credibility of the body has not been in doubt. For all I know, the two associations were asked to find a common ground and if you know Chief Okoroji well, he is a man of documentation. I have read a lot since I resumed, and I can boldly tell you that all hands of fellowship were rebuffed with insult and subsequent campaign of calumny.

C: @’B’, the first law of nature is equal right and justice; I hate injustice and I condemn it in totality. Law or not law, justice prevails. I wish COSON (Okoroji) well, but what goes around comes around.

F: @’B’, I doubt that you would agree that under Adewopo, NCC was favorably disposed to the Okoroji faction that has become COSON today. What level playing ground are we talking about? The NCC was anti MCSN and all of us know.

A: Make una leave COSON out of this now. Let’s face NCC that raided MCSN. When for many years under Adewopo, COSON was not recognized, how many of us blamed MCSN for that? This is strictly between NCC and MCSN.

D: How many of us here were present at the meeting called by Adewopo to find a final resolution to the issue at Abuja? Like ‘A’ said, Adewopo bowed to superior argument that there should be one society because as at that time, he was still friends to MCSN. This MCSN fought and reinstated Adewopo when Okoroji caused him to be suspended. So, naturally, one thought he would give MCSN license to practice, but it came to MCSN as a rude shock that he did not. If both parties; MCSN, and then PMRS had allowed their egos and interest to be put aside, we won’t be having this issues today.

G: MCSN is a registered business interest, limited by guarantee. Artistes are free to go there and ask them to represent their rights. They are like housing agents who you go to meet for housing services. Why did government not only license Diya Fatimilehin?

A: If I read you well Mr. ‘G’, what you are saying is that just anybody can wake up and set up a CMO? I do not think so. Then we do not need NBC too. Anybody who can afford a transmitter should be allowed to go into broadcasting then. And can you please tell me the country where CMO which is usually GTE is not regulated; whether by way of duopoly or monopoly? And again, the fact that Alhaji Giwa of blessed memory set up MCSN in the 70s with its office in a room at TBS does not mean that the company should get automatic approval; after all, the first building in the town does not mean the best. @ ‘F’, that is not true. Adewopo was MCSN and MCSN was Adewopo before what joined them together separated them. This much I know and ‘D’ can testify to it. Adewopo was MCSN’s lawyer before he was appointed D.G of NCC. Ask Mayo and he will tell you. Adewopo was so pro MCSN that he wrote several opinion articles in The Guardian, calling for the scrapping of NCC. He even appeared before the House Committee on Copyright Matters to ask them to scrap NCC, but months later, Obasanjo (former president) made him NCC’s DG and he quickly approved MCSN as a CMO. When he was suspended, Ambassador Frank Ogbuewu, it was, with MCSN and Charly Boy that formed FIPO that campaigned for his reinstatement. He was never for COSON and its promoters.

I: @ ‘H’, a court of competent jurisdiction has asked NCC to stop harassing MCSN and even awarded damages. I am surprised you accept NCC’s Gestapo style which is influenced by the malice they have against MCSN.

B: If only we can stop to see COSON as an Okoroji thing, we will really appreciate the effort of the organization. @ ‘C’, COSON is still in its teething stage. It’s achievements so far are due to the sheer resilience and doggedness of its founding staff members, headed by its hardworking Chairman, Chief Okoroji. But the organisation is still evolving, and it’s still very much at a critical stage where it needs every hand on deck.

H: I do not accept their impunity against court ruling. Now is the time to take them to task, because they owe tax payers some explanations.

B: Every popular musician you know today save for a few are card carrying members of COSON, if they don’t believe in it, I am sure they won’t identify with it.

G: @ ‘A’, please get me right. I didn’t say you can just wake up and float a business, because your company is limited by guarantee. No. What I meant is that you can still seek registration with NCC which should approve that you operate as one, but not close the doors to people who will legitimately do this business well. The word ‘sole’ is alien even in entertainment business, that’s why you have so many recording companies, music labels etc. Whatever superior argument Adewopo bowed too, including (bowing to the perceived blackmail to make NCC ungovernable for him) was for that moment. But the point now is that Nigeria is too ripe for liberalization of the right administration segment of the entertainment industry. Why do you think MCSN got the 40 million judgment in it favour? It’s because the word monopoly is alien to a free market like the creative industry. Like I said, it’s just a matter of time. The MCSN just needs to do a lot more lobbying and get other people interested in this to join in the lobby. It took former Justice Minister, Bayo Ojo; Adewopo’s supposed teacher, friend and in-law nothing to move NCC to Justice Ministry? It will take someone else nothing to liberalize that sector. It’s just a matter of time. ‘Sole’ is an alien word in the entertainment industry. If you engage Adewopo today (and I have engaged him even last week), I am sure he will tell you why he had to take the decision he took at that time. The man is even calling for a total overhaul of the NCC laws which he has found out (now out of office and teaching at the legal institute in Abuja) cannot effectively administer copyright issues in Nigeria. PLEASE LET MORE SOCIETIES PAY!