Emeka Mba,NBC’s Director General who is also a regular AML reader, is spearheading this effort. This is a step in the right direction in the COSON v. BON v. IBAN music licensing feud.
-Uduak
The Nigerian Broadcast Commission, NBC, has pledged to intervene in the ongoing battle between Nigerian terrestrial television stations, and Nigerian musicians.
The Director General of the NBC, Emeka Mba, said his agency would intervene in the long-drawn tussle between the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, BON, and the Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria, IBAN, on one side and Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON, over payment of royalties for broadcast music.
Mr. Mba promised to intervene and find lasting solution to the matter.
He was speaking in reaction to a statement issued by BON/IBAN that the music of a large number of Nigeria’s top artistes have been banned from being broadcast on stations run by the members of BON and IBAN with immediate effect.
There was outrage at Protea Hotel, Ikeja on Tuesday, December 4 at the ANCOP-FIAPF Film Forum organised by Association of Nollywood Core Producers, ANCOP, and International Federation of Film Producers Associations when the development became public, with many of the participants asking for the immediate reaction of the NBC boss to the development.
Explaining that every broadcast station in Nigeria was bound by the music quota provided in the broadcast code, Mr. Mba said that, based on the long list of Nigerian artistes affected by the purported ban by BON and IBAN, he did not see how the stations could meet their local content obligations and that such a situation was of serious concern to the NBC.
Article 3.13.2.2 of the Broadcast code issued by NBC says, “For the purpose of free-to-air broadcast, Nigerian music shall constitute 80 per cent of all music broadcast.”
Mr. Mba assured that a joint effort would be made by the NBC and the Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC, to resolve the issues.
The BON/IBAN press release was read to the participants made up mostly of motion picture industry practitioners and copyright experts by COSON Chairman, Tony Okoroji, who started by saying, “Nigeria has just made history.”
Premium Times has the full story.
