COSON Unveils Nigeria’s First Online Licensing Platform, CLAP
In a bid to further encourage respect for intellectual property rights, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the sole approved copyright collective management organisation for musical works and sound recordings, recently unveiled Nigeria’s first online licensing platform called, COSON Licensing Application Platform (CLAP).
Copyright activist and COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji at the launch, explained that since COSON was approved six years ago, it had made a public commitment to be constantly innovative and to do all in its power to become the leading copyright collective management organisation in Africa.
Okoroji noted that everyone in Nigeria can bear witness to the fact that at COSON there have been relentless efforts to protect the intellectual property rights of musicians and investors in the music industry in Nigeria and ensure that music industry stakeholders earn commensurate income from the enjoyment and exploitation by different individuals and organisations of their musical works and sound recordings. He went on to say that more than any other organisation in Nigeria’s history, COSON had repeatedly gone to court to protect the interest of its members, assignors and affiliates.
‘‘The respect for intellectual property rights ensures that those employed in the creative industry earn good income, pay adequate taxes, provide employment to millions of our citizens, export their products to other lands, generate goodwill for our nation and ensure that our economy is booming,’’ Okoroji said.
On the launch of CLAP, Okoroji said, ‘‘Thousands of Nigerian businesses are aware of the value of music. Without the support of music, their operations will not run smoothly and there will be little or no profit. Music is therefore a critical ingredient in driving the success of these businesses. As we launch CLAP today, our objective is to make it easy and stress free for users of music in Nigeria to get the copyright license they require to legally play music in their business environments and facilities. Without leaving the comfort of your business, you can log on to www.clapng.com and obtain a copyright licence that allows you to deploy music in your business without exposing you to the dangers of copyright infringement in just six simple steps.
‘‘Let me welcome every user of music everywhere in Nigeria, especially the hotels, restaurants, clubs, event centres, the organisers of road shows, salons, barber shops, organisers of exhibitions and trade fairs, fitness centres and gyms, malls, shops, retail outlets, offices, transporters to CLAP, the easy to use internet COSON Licensing Application Platform,’’ he said.
Present at CLAP launch were COSON Directors, Mr. Joel Ajayi, Mrs. Azeezat Allen; COSON General Manager, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji; COSON’s consultant, Mrs. Lucy Ajayi; popular reggae artiste, Ras Kimono; Gospel music star, Kenny Saint Best; C.E.O of Play Spread, Mr. Segun Jerome; COSON’s Head of Documentation, Mr. Vincent Adawaisi; and representative of UBA Group, Mrs. Adetoun Ogunnaike.