MCSN warns music users against dealing with COSON as CMO, says licence expired since 2018

BY ORJI ONYEKWERE

The Musical Copyright Society Nigeria Ltd/Gte (MCSN) has warned the general public and all those who exploit music in their businesses to be very careful not to pay imposters for licence for the use of music.

The warning, the Society said is necessary now because there is evidence that a certain organization and individuals are all over the place defrauding unsuspecting users of music in the name of granting them licence which they have no authority or approval to so do.

MCSN mentioned the defunct Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) as the organization being used by a certain individuals to defraud the public in the name of granting licence for the use of music.

It stated that COSON’s licence to operate as a Collective Management Organization (CMO) has expired since 2018 when it (the licence) was suspended and it eventually expired by effluxion of time. Aside the expiration of the licence, the Federal High Court on March 25th, 2020 in a judgment by Honourable Justice Saidu ordered the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to strike off the name of COSON from the companies register in Nigeria.

The judgment and consequential order of the Court of 24th June 2020, refusing the stay of execution of the judgment are still subsisting. The Federal High Court had also on June 21, 2021, ruled that COSON has no approval or licence to operate as a CMO, a ruling which COSON went on to challenge at the Court of Appeal.

The Court of Appeal on July 6th, 2026 in a unanimous decision affirmed the ruling of the Federal High Court and stated clearly that COSON had no licence in the first place before coming to court to seek injunction. “Only an existing and valid licence could be revoked and that there was no basis for granting an injunction restraining the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) from revoking a licence that no longer existed”.

It has since come to the notice of MCSN that COSON is all over the place defrauding innocent Nigerians of their hard earned money in flagrant disobedience of the laws of the country.

MCSN therefore warned the public not to pay any monies to the defunct Society as doing so will amount to sheer waste of resources as MCSN being the only approved Society to licence musical works for exploitation will come after any hotel, lounge, event centre, cinema, discotheque, bar, radio and television stations, telcos, digital and online platforms and any other entity that exploit music for its business without a licence from it (MCSN).

“It has come to the notice of MCSN that an illegal body, COSON is all over the place defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians under the guise of licensing them for the exploitation of music.

The public is hereby warned that COSON is an illegal body as its licence to operate as a CMO has expired since 2018 without a renewal. So anybody or institution that deals with it, does so at its own risk” a statement issued by MCSN stated.