The boycott is predicated on the fact that Lagos Oriental Hotel is
infringing the copyright of members and affiliates of COSON as it has failed
despite repeated requests, to license its facilities for the use of musical
works and sound recordings as required by law. This is in contrast with other
major hotels operating in the same environment such as Eko Hotel & Suites;
Intercontinental Lagos; Protea Ikeja; Raddison Blue; Southern Sun; Federal
Palace Hotel; Wheat Baker Hotel ; Golden Tulip; Lagos Airport Hotel, Rockview
Hotel, Sheraton Abuja, Transcorp Hilton Abuja, Valencia Hotel Abuja, Chelsea
Hotel Abuja, Amber Residence Ikeja, Protea Hotel Maitama, Protea Hotel Victoria
Island, Protea Hotel Select Emotan, etc all of which are licensed by COSON.
One of the consequences of the boycott is that Nigerian musicians may no
longer attend or perform at any event at Lagos Oriental Hotel including the All
African Music Awards (AFRIMA) billed to hold at the Grand Ballroom of the hotel
on December 27, 2014. Already, both the organizers of AFRIMA and owners of
Lagos Oriental Hotel have been informed by COSON of this development.
Members of COSON also unanimously decided to back the boycott of
recalcitrant organizations with the massive picketing by musicians of such
establishments.
In his address at the EGM, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji said, “At
the last meeting of your Board, it was decided that COSON and all its members
begin an active boycott of all hotels and event venues who have failed to
obtain copyright licences for the music deployed in their establishments. This
is necessary to send the message to one and all that we mean business and that
there will be consequences to those who do not respect their obligations to us.
I hereby call on all our members to heed this decision of the Board and stay
away from those places where they have no respect for us. Please remember that
we continue to be in a historic struggle and that we must make the necessary
sacrifice for the success of the struggle”.
It will be recalled that recently, COSON began a boycott of Westown
Hotel Ikeja for similar reasons. As a result of the boycott, COSON members
stayed away from the British Council Creative Industries Expo held at the hotel
on December 8 and 9, 2014. In solidarity with COSON other creative industry
groups have joined in the Westown boycott. For instance the newly government
approved Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS) asked practitioners in
the Nigerian motion picture industry to stay away from Westown Hotel.
Coincidentally, the Chairman of AVRS, Mr. Mahmood Ali Balogun, was a guest at
the COSON EGM at which the Oriental Hotel Boycott was ratified.
Commenting recently on the massive battle being waged by COSON against
copyright infringers in Nigeria, COSON General Manager, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji
said, “The battle line is drawn. No sensible user of music would want to
confront COSON. Whatever we say we will do, we will do. We have long warned
every one of the users. We had appealed to them with no result. We have
exhausted all options and we have now decided to deploy the many different
tools in our tool box. There will be no more hiding place for any infringer of
copyright in musical works and sound recordings in Nigeria. Anyone that we have
not taken on should not deceive himself that we are not seeing him. If we have
not hit you yet, do not think that you are not on our radar. Do not wait.
Resolve your issues now. It may be your turn tomorrow or the day after.
Those who think that the law cannot be enforced in Nigeria will learn from
COSON”.
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