COSON Condemns Malami Over Copyright Levy Fraud
The Copyright Society of Nigeria has accused former Attorney-General Abubakar Malami of enabling the approval of the Musical Copyright Society Nigeria without due process and using it to divert funds meant for musicians.
At a press briefing in Lagos, COSON said the actions dated back to 2016 and 2017 and involved directives to the Nigerian Copyright Commission that bypassed established rules.
According to the group, MCSN did not meet regulatory conditions before receiving recognition as a collecting society.
It claimed required documents were not submitted, fees were not paid, and statutory evaluations were not completed.
The dispute has deepened over the Private Copy Levy scheme, with COSON alleging that about ₦1.2 billion was allocated by the NCC to MCSN.
It questioned the capacity of MCSN to manage the fund and demanded full disclosure of total collections, as well as a forensic audit of both MCSN and the commission.
The society also revisited a previous ₦2.7 billion payment from Multichoice, alleging that many musicians never received any share.
In a list of demands, COSON called for the suspension of further levy disbursement, cancellation of MCSN’s licence, reopening of past criminal cases, and removal of the NCC Director-General.
It maintained that the so-called “scam machine” must be dismantled and ended its address with a warning that “Karma is not done.
All those who think they are smart and are feeding fat at the expense of Nigerian musicians will surely pay dearly for their greed.”
