HOW OKOROJI SHARED THE =N=200,000 HE COLLECTED FROM EFE OMOROGBE

EXCLUSIVE!!!

HOW OKOROJI SHARED THE =N=200,000 HE COLLECTED FROM EFE OMOROGBE

It will be recalled that Justice Josephine  Oyefeso of the High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja, last year ordered Artiste Manager, Efe Omorogbe of Now Muzik to pay COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji a total of =N=200,000.00 as cost for truncating  trial in two undefended defamation cases brought by Chief Okoroji against Omorogbe. Just as the trials were about to begin in Justice Oyefeso’s court, Omorogbe’s lawyer rushed to court to beg the judge to suspend the trial so that Omorogbe could file defence to the suits.

For over 9 months, Mr. Omorogbe struggled, failed or neglected to pay the money prompting Okoroji’s lawyers to write to him warning him that if he did not pay the money within two weeks, Garnishee proceedings would be commenced to levy execution on Omorogbe’s property over the debt. As a result, Efe Omorogbe rushed to pay the sum of =N=200,000.00 to the account of Whitedove Solicitors, lawyers to Chief Tony Okoroji.

Unknown to many, the =N=200,000.00 was treated as war bounty at COSON House and Okoroji’s TOPS Ltd, both in Ikeja and among Chief Okoroji’s friends and relations. To many of Okoroji’s people, the money was seen as appetizer in what they consider to be the fruits of a main dish of damages to come as a price for  Omorogbe’s audacity to organize a failed ‘coup’ against the man considered by many to be his mentor and friend and the attempt to widely rubbish the name and character of the most respected former president of PMAN.

Tony Okoroji, the master of copyright royalty distribution, took the position that the money did not belong to him but to the many people who have stood by him in the war declared against him by the Efe Omorogbe led gang.

A source close to Chief Okoroji says that over one hundred people got a share of the Efe Omorogbe ‘loot’. Among those said to have got a piece of the action are Okoroji’s wife, his driver and housekeeper and every member of the COSON Board. On the day the members of the COSON staff got their share of the money, there was wide jubilation at COSON House. In unison, they thundered out the COSON mantra, “let the music pay!” Thereafter, some of the staff spent their money on recharge cards, others on pepper soup and drinks. At Okoroji’s TOPS Ltd, the scene was repeated. We are also informed that several of Okoroji’s close friends such as Patrick Doyle and his fiery lawyer and friend, Mr. James Ononiwu, did not miss out in the bonanza.

Said our source, “you will be surprised that some journalists got their own share of the money and so did some staff of the NCC who are pretending to be fighting Chief Tony Okoroji. ‘Presido’ did not spend one naira of the money on himself. I am not sure that he is interested in Efe Omorogbe’s money. I believe he just wants Efe Omorogbe to learn a bitter lesson”.

P.M Walker for TOPS

Culled from dailynewscover.com

Supporting Artists During the Covid-19 Pandemic

Hello fans, listeners and readers..... Hope you are all doing great today without the fear of the world.

If you are an artist or a registered member of BANDCAMP, there is good news for you as the ceo and co-founder has issued out a press release of peace and assurance for all her members.

He said, we know many artists and labels have been hit especially hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. To support the Bandcamp community during this challenging time, we’re waiving our revenue share on all sales this Friday, March 20, from midnight to midnight PST, and rallying fans to put some money directly into your pocket.

The Covid-19 pandemic is in full force, and artists have been hit especially hard as tours and shows are being canceled for the foreseeable future. With such a major revenue stream drying up almost entirely, finding ways to continue supporting artists in the coming months is now an urgent priority for anyone who cares about music and the artists who create it. The good news is that we’re already seeing many fans going above and beyond to support artists across Bandcamp.

To raise even more awareness around the pandemic’s impact on musicians everywhere, we’re waiving our revenue share on sales this Friday, March 20 (from midnight to midnight Pacific Time), and rallying the Bandcamp community to put much needed money directly into artists’ pockets.

For many artists, a single day of boosted sales can mean the difference between being able to pay rent or not. Still, we consider this just a starting point. Musicians will continue to feel the effects of lost touring income for many months to come, so we’re also sharing some ideas below on how fans can support the artists they love and how artists can give fans new, creative ways to provide support.

It may sound simple, but the best way to help artists is with your direct financial support, and we hope you’ll join us on Friday and through the coming months as we work to support artists in this challenging time.

Ethan Diamond
Co-Founder & CEO
Bandcamp

10 BILLION NAIRA LAWSUIT ON NIGERIAN COPYRIGHT COMMISSION (NCC)

Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), the nation’s biggest copyright collective management organization, has gone to the Federal High Court to seek damages of eight billion naira from the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) for “the undemocratic, unlawful and unconstitutional ‘suspension’ of the approval and operating licence of the Plaintiff” and another two billion naira “for the significant loss of Reputation and Goodwill suffered by the Plaintiff and arising from the massive publicity sustained by the NCC against COSON following the undemocratic, unlawful and unconstitutional ‘suspension’ of the approval and operating licence of the Plaintiff and the unlawful directive that the bank accounts of the Plaintiff be frozen.”

In its 63 paragraph Statement of Claim in suit No FHC/L/CS/425/2020 filed by renowned Lagos lawyer, Mr. James Ononiwu of Whitedove Solicitors, COSON pleads that It is a fact that the Copyright Act in Section 39 (2) gives the Defendant the power to approve collecting societies but nowhere under the law is the NCC given the power to suspend, revoke or in any way restrict the approval given to a collecting society or embark on an audit of a collecting society or direct the freeze/restriction of the bank accounts of a collecting society without an order of court.

COSON which is Africa’s fastest growing CMO with thousands of members across Nigeria, also pleads that while the Copyright Collective Management Organization Regulations (2007), made by the NCC, states that it has been made in exercise of the powers conferred on the NCC by section 39 (7) of the Copyright Act, the regulations are over reaching of the law because nowhere in Section 39 of the Copyright Act or any other law is the commission given the power to suspend, revoke or in any way restrict the approval given to a collecting society or embark on an audit of a collecting society or direct the freeze/restriction of the bank accounts of a collecting society without an order of court.

COSON said that the NCC has become a MONSTER, deploying the wide powers it has unlawfully assumed to decimate the stakeholders it was set up to protect and that in its actions, the commission has been the law maker, the accuser, the judge and the jury in its own case without COSON being offered any opportunity for fair hearing.

COSON has therefore asked the Federal high Court to declare that the provisions in the Copyright (Collective Management Organizations) Regulations 2007, made by the NCC, by which the NCC has assumed the power to unilaterally suspend or revoke the licence of an approved Collecting Society or to require an approved collecting society to apply to the NCC to renew its licence are undemocratic, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.

Similarly, COSON which has reciprocal representation agreements with about 150 collective management organizations in every continent around the world has asked the Federal High Court to declare that the provision in the Copyright (Collective Management Organizations) Regulations 2007 by which the NCC has assumed the power to order the audit of a Copyright Collective Management Organization without the authorization of the society’s Annual General Meeting and without a court order is undemocratic, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void. Also requested is a declaration that the directive by the NCC without an order of court that the bank accounts of COSON be frozen, is ultra vires the powers of the NCC, illegal, unlawful, null and void.

Furthermore, COSON is seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the commission, its officers, agents, servants or privies from relying on the provisions of the Copyright Collective Management Organizations Regulations 2007 to take any steps purporting to revoke the operating licence/ approval of COSON or in any way or manner disturbing/continuing to disturb or preventing/continuing to prevent COSON from lawfully enforcing the constitutional rights of its members, affiliates, assignees and reciprocal representation partners or interfering/continuing to interfere with the internal management, operations, funds, audits or bank accounts of the Plaintiff or disturbing/continuing to disturb or preventing/continuing to prevent COSON, its members, affiliates, assignees and reciprocal representation partners from earning income and sustaining themselves with their Intellectual Property, without an order of court.

It will be recalled that at a massively attended world press conference held at COSON House, Ikeja days before the suit was filed, COSON called for the immediate resignation of Mr. John Asein, the Director-General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission who is alleged to be immersed in rabid corruption. At the Press Conference addressed by the CMOs chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, he said, “the Nigerian Copyright Commission has brought shame to the Nigerian nation. We therefore on this 10th day of March 2020 call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to call the Nigerian Copyright Commission to order. We demand of the Buhari Administration to order the Nigerian Copyright Commission to publish a bold and unreserved apology to the thousands of members of COSON, the entire Nigerian creative community and the international copyright family for the terrible misuse and abuse of power and to make appropriate restitution to COSON”