By Oladapo Udom
Lagos – Chief Tony Okoroji, Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) on Thursday appealed to hoteliers and entertainment hub to obtain copyright licence before deploying music in their operations.
Okoroji told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the protection of intellectual property rights of citizens was paramount in order to encourage more creativity in the industry.
“I appeal to all hotel owners to respect the intellectual property rights of citizens by obtaining the appropriate copyright licence before publicly deploying music.
“It is far cheaper to obtain a COSON copyright licence than to be entangled in a very expensive copyright infringement law suit,” Okoroji said.
The chairman said that in a bid to uphold this prerogative, COSON recently commenced a full enforcement of the war against music copyright defaulters in Imo State.
“COSON is a very professional and socially responsible organisation which believes strongly in dealing with issues first through dialogue.
Okoroji said that COSON had spent substantial funds in creating public enlightenment campaign programmes in Imo to educate people on the need to comply with the Copyright Act.
“We want to have a cordial relationship with the hotel owners in the states and we expect the association to inform its members of their duty to respect their copyright obligations.
“In the new digital world, respect for intellectual property rights is central to the growth of any economy,” he said.