MCSN hits back at RELPI, announces N1.2billion copyright levy payout

By Benjamin Njoku

The Musical Copyright Society Nigeria Ltd/Gte, MCSN, has received N1,205,956,580.20 as the first tranche of the Copyright Levy.

The organization is expected to disburse the funds to Nigerian creators, lifting local musicians out of poverty. It praised the Minister of Finance and Accountant General of the Federation for accessing the fund, noting that the copyright levy was first introduced in 1988 but never implemented until President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

MCSN accused Record Labels Proprietors Initiative RELPI, of working against Nigeria’s music industry progress and confusing the copyright system. The organization stated that sound recordings are a shared interest between producers and performers, with rights typically split 50-50.

In a statement released days back, MCSN emphasized that most Nigerian performers are direct members and assignors, and slammed RELPI for falsely claiming to represent sound recording owners.

“We are not unaware of the grumblings of certain interests fronting some Nigerian entities to continue with the unprofitable actions of more than 30 years to hold down the progress of the Nigerian music industry.

“They have been operating under various guises confusing the copyright system, thus preventing it to deliver the desired results to our creatives, particularly in the music industry,” MSCN stated.

MCSN, however, identified the real owners of sound recordings in Nigeria as performers and producers, citing the Performing Employers’ Association of Nigeria, PMAN, agreement. The organization further emphasized that Nigeria’s Copyright Act 2022 protects copyright in seven categories of works/rights within the country.

The organization slammed RELPI, consisting of nine entities including Mavin Record, Chocolate City, Davido Music Worldwide (DMW), Premier Records, Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment (SME), Warner Music Group (WMG), Digital Music Commerce and Exchange (DMCE) and Hypertek Digital, for allegedly working against Nigeria’s music industry. The organization noted that these entities are mostly foreign-interest dominated and operate within collective management systems in their home countries.

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