Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) Dr. John Asein, has reiterated the commission’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for right owners to maximise the return on their creative endeavour, while users are allowed legitimate access in return for their user licence.
This, he said, is provided for in the Commission’s Collective Management Regulations 2025, which seek to entrench accountability and transparency in the collective management system, ensuring that right owners are fairly remunerated and users have a seamless and trustworthy means of clearing rights.
He stated that licensing of public performance rights should be straightforward and driven by good-faith negotiations.
He noted that where disagreements arise, the Act and the Regulations provide for prompt recourse to the Commission’s Dispute Resolution Panel. This mechanism, he said, is available to ensure that disputes are resolved efficiently, without acrimony, and in a way that sustains mutual respect and good business practice.
Dr. Asein spoke at the colloquium on Copyright Licensing of Public Performance Rights to mark African Copyright and Collective Management Day 2025 held in Abuja last Wednesday. The gathering was attended by key stakeholders in the creative sector, including collaborating partners such as the WIPO Nigeria Office, Audiovisual Rights Society of Nigeria, and Musical Copyright Society Nigeria (MCSN), which partnered with the Commission to make the programme possible.
Also at the colloquium were the keynote speaker, the Director-General National Council for Arts and Culture, Mr. Obi Asika, and the guest speaker, Chief Samuel Alabi, a leading voice in hospitality, among others.
Setting the tone for the session, Dr. Asein said the major focus of the colloquium was the licensing of public performance rights through the collective management system. He stressed that while copyright law grants authors a wide bundle of rights, the right of public performance is among the most intricate, because of its diverse application in user environments.
‘It is also one of the most contested, often prone to misunderstanding and distortion. Our expectation is that the expert presentations and practical perspectives shared here will help us achieve greater cohesion and mutual respect in the licensing of public performance rights,’ he added.
On the Ecosystem and the obligation to comply, he said, ‘There is no doubting the fact that several businesses rely heavily on creative content to enhance their competitiveness and add value-whether in broadcasting, telecommunications, hospitality and tourism, advertising, or even aviation. It is only fair that while they benefit from the creativity of others, they also support the sustainability of creativity by obtaining proper licences.
‘The Copyright Act 2022 makes this obligation clear. Hotels and hospitality businesses must secure licences before publicly performing music, films, or broadcasts. While some may be tempted to cut corners, they must recognise that musicians, recording companies, actors, and film producers deserve to recoup from the secondary use of their works.
When their creations are woven into the ambience of a hotel lobby, a guest room, or a restaurant, they are no less part of the hotel’s commercial attraction than the décor or the service. It is, therefore, a matter of equity that they are fairly compensated.
Cable and broadcasting organisations also carry distinct responsibilities. By transmitting content into homes, hotels, and public venues, and by providing decoders or other devices, they sit at a crucial point in the value chain. The scope of the licence they offer to subscribers must be unambiguous.
A subscription licence does not automatically confer rights of public performance in commercial spaces. Hotels and similar establishments must still obtain performance licences for such uses. This clarity is vital to avoid misuse, ensure compliance, and safeguard the legitimate interests of content creators.’
While identifying lessons from the Courts and global best practice as references, Dr. Asein cited the Federal High Court (Hon Justice Obiora Egwuatu) judgment in the recent case of Reiz Continental Hotel Ltd Vs. Audiovisual Rights Society of Nigeria Ltd/Gte (on 24th July, 2025), which reaffirmed the position of the law when it declared that:
‘The defendant (i.e, AVRS) is entitled to enforce the rights assigned to it against third parties, including the plaintiff herein (i.e, Reiz Continental Hotel). As a lawful assignee and holder of copyright in various audiovisual works, the Defendant is also entitled in law to grant a copyright licence to the Plaintiff, in respect of use of audiovisual works by the Plaintiff, which would, without such a licence, amount to an infringement of the copyright of the Defendant.
‘That decision has unequivocally affirmed that public performance rights are enforceable and that compliance is not optional. These pronouncements align with jurisprudence in other jurisdictions. Incidentally, the plaintiff in that case, Reiz Continental Hotel Ltd., had approached the court asking, among other things, for a declaration that the AVRS could not demand copyright fees for audiovisual works enjoyed by the hotel as AVRS is not the owner of the works; and that the hotel was only a recipient of the broadcasts by television and radio stations.’
According to him, the Commission had earlier issued a Copyright Advisory warning users of copyright works, especially hotels and other businesses in the hospitality business, to regularize their operations by obtaining appropriate licences for the use of copyright works from copyright owners or the collective management organizations representing them. ‘The judgment in the Reiz Continental Case has reaffirmed the position of the Commission.’
He stressed that for the avoidance of doubt, the licence granted to Multichoice Nigeria Ltd, the paid satellite television service that provided the contrivances through which the hotel accessed the audiovisual works in question, did not avail the hotel.
‘We therefore call on Multichoice and all other cable stations to make full disclosure to their commercial subscribers on the limits of the licence granted at the point of subscription. International licensing systems have shown the importance of transparency and business certainty while ensuring creators are paid. Collective management succeeds where users are provided clarity and the right owners are treated fairly. Nigeria subscribes to this ideal,’ he noted.