April 19, 2024

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Africa’s fastest growing collective management organization for musical works and sound recordings, has called on its thousands of members across the country, other stakeholders in the music industry and lovers of music in Nigeria who are sympathetic to the plight of creative people in the country, to speak up on Saturday, September 1, 2018 as Nigeria marks “No Music Day.”

Making the call in Lagos, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji said, “Creative people in Nigeria cannot afford to keep quiet as Nigeria goes through another electioneering campaign process in which no one offers any direction for the development and optimal deployment of the millions of Nigeria’s creative talents for national development. We will not be taken for granted anymore.

“The time has come to make it abundantly clear that it is only politicians who have developed a sensible long-term plan for the progress of our industry and have shown clear interest in the development of the nation’s creative industry that can count on our significant support and votes when the time comes.”

“No Music Day” can be traced to that historic week in 2009 when Nigerian artistes of different shades embarked on a weeklong hunger strike staged in front of the National Theatre in Lagos. The hunger strike which was a result of the frustration caused by the devastating level of intellectual property theft in the country was the prelude to what has become known as “No Music Day” in Nigeria. The day was September 1, 2009 when practitioners in the Nigerian music industry asked all the 400 licensed broadcast stations in the country not to broadcast music for a significant period of the day.

Continuing, Chief Tony Okoroji who spearheaded the 2009 campaign, said that it has become imperative that appropriate action be taken to remind the different politicians canvasing for votes across the country that the disease which necessitated the hunger strike of 2009 has not quite been cured and that at this time that other nations are building their growth on the creative economy, Nigeria must take important steps to protect its creative industries to ensure the socio-economic progress of the nation.

As has become the tradition, broadcast stations across Nigeria have been requested not to broadcast music between the hours of 8am and 10am on Saturday, September 1, 2018 as a mark of solidarity with the nation’s creative industries which have suffered immensely from the debilitating infringement of copyright. Rather than broadcast music, the stations have been asked to dedicate the 8 am to 10 am time belt to the broadcast of interviews, documentaries, debates and discussions that focus on the rights of creative people and the potential contributions of creative activities to the national economy. Newspapers and magazines across the country have also been requested to publish special features on these issues in the coming days.

The Nigerian public is requested to tune in to different domestic radio and television stations on September 1 as over 60 top COSON members, Intellectual Property lawyers, investors in the music industry and other music industry experts are spread out to diverse broadcast stations and will simultaneously discuss “Copyright is Human Right” the theme of the 2018 No Music Day.

On “No Music Day”, flags at the magnificent COSON House in Ikeja will fly at half-mast. COSON will also issue an important statement on the state of the music industry.

At the COSON Arena, a tool kit developed under the GEM project by Mr. John Assien, an internationally respected expert on copyright and a former Director of the Nigerian Copyright Institute, will be formerly presented to the intellectual property community at a special event called “Let’s Talk Copyright” (LTC) which will hold at the COSON House Arena on September 1, 2018. Let’s Talk Copyright will be the climax of the 2018 No Music Day.

Artistes, journalists, intellectual property lawyers and those interested in the subject are invited to Let’s Talk Copyright which begins at midday on September 1.

Tags:

30 thoughts on “No Music Day: COSON Calls On Nigeria Musicians To Speak Up To Politicians On September 1”

  1. I just want to tell you that I am very new to blogging and absolutely liked this page. More than likely I’m want to bookmark your blog . You actually come with fabulous stories. Thanks a bunch for sharing with us your website page.

    Reply

  10. 992135 412005hi!,I like your writing so considerably! share we keep up a correspondence extra approximately your post on AOL? I demand a specialist on this space to solve my difficulty. Might be that is you! Looking ahead to peer you. 844703

    Reply

  13. 831627 511061Youre so cool! I dont suppose Ive learn something like this before. So nice to search out any person with some special thoughts on this topic. realy thank you for starting this up. this internet web site is one thing thats required on the net, someone with a bit of originality. helpful job for bringing something new towards the internet! 166544

    Reply

  17. 863721 856171Oh my goodness! an amazing write-up dude. Thank you Even so My business is experiencing issue with ur rss . Dont know why Unable to subscribe to it. Can there be anyone obtaining identical rss problem? Anybody who knows kindly respond. Thnkx 73389

    Reply

  19. 202622 78733Hi! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to check it out. Im certainly loving the info. Im book-marking and will probably be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and wonderful design and style. 678982

    Reply

  22. 692976 774784I like the valuable data you provide inside your articles. Ill bookmark your weblog and check once more here regularly. Im quite certain I will learn plenty of new stuff proper here! Good luck for the next! 462879

    Reply

  23. 744967 279819Good read. I just passed this onto a buddy who was performing some research on that. He just bought me lunch since I identified it for him! Thus let me rephrase: Thanx for lunch! 665423

    Reply

  28. 558919 233332Very efficiently written story. It is going to be valuable to anybody who employess it, including me. Keep up the good function – canr wait to read far more posts. 58416

    Reply

  29. 104758 345418The vacation delivers on offer are : believed a selection of some of the most selected and furthermore budget-friendly global. Any of these lodgings tend to be really used along units may possibly accented by means of pretty shoreline supplying crystal-clear turbulent waters, concurrent with the Ocean. hotels packages 387272

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related News

Broda Shaggi Discloses Disinterest in Lavish Weddings, Emphasizes Privacy in Personal Life

March 4, 2024 505

“Oppenheimer” Dominates SAG Awards Amid Joyful Reunion After Strike

February 25, 2024 72