COSON, GEM Project Partner On Intellectual Property Toolkit

In a bid to properly educate and enlighten the Nigerian populace and the entertainment industry in particular, the Growth and Empowerment (GEM) Project, funded by the World Bank and domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, has just entered into a new partnership with the Copyright Society of Nigeria, COSON.

In the partnership GEM has domiciled a just developed tool kit for education of intellectual property with emphasis of copyright which is aimed at ensuring a well-rounded, global understanding of the subject.

At the meeting held at the boardroom of COSON House, Ikeja, on Thursday during which the partnership was concluded, Mr. Bello Abba Yakasai, Cluster Manager, GEM Project, said the initiative was borne out of the need to engender a culture of respect for intellectual property amongst practitioners in the industry.

This, he said appeared to have been difficult in the past, owing to the ambiguous nature of the subject.

Yakasai said “What we aim to achieve with this tool kit is to simplify the grey areas with respect to Intellectual Property so as to make it understandable by everyone. The IP manual, we are certain upon completion, will bring about a reorientation amongst everyone; be it the owners of the intellectual property or the end users”

The toolkit developed under the GEM project by Mr. John Assien will be formerly presented at an event title Let’s Talk Copyright which will hold at the COSON House Arena which will hold on September 1, 2018.

Let’s Talk Copyright will be the climax of the annual No Music Day celebration and will involve music practitioners, Nollywood, Legal Practitioners, Broadcast Executives and other stakeholders in the entertainment industry

The decision to partner with COSON on the project he said is in recognition of COSON’s giant strides in the Collective Management business and the Society’s determination to ensure the respect of copyright owners in the music industry.

Also speaking at the meeting House, COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji thanked the GEM team while also stating that COSON as the custodian of the IP tool kit will ensure that the message gets to every stakeholder in the industry

Okoroji said “You will recall that COSON has been at the fore front of championing the message of the respect for the intellectual property of right owners. We have through such events like the COSON Lecture; (one of the seven superlative events of the COSON Week) continued to educate and engage practitioners and other stakeholders on the different areas of copyright management and administration. Aside that, we also have other programs like the COSON Digital Summit, the Big Info Day and the No Music Day; all discussing emerging trends in the copyright business. All these are initiatives taken by COSON to keep the subject of Intellectual Property in general and music copyright in particular on the front burner”

We are delighted with this new challenge and I assure you, we are fully committed to making sure that this project will achieve its aims and objectives.

In attendance at the meeting were the COSON General Manager, Mr. Chinedu Chukwuji, Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Chibueze Moses Okereke and COSON Head of Legal, Ms. Simi Wash-Pam.

Also present at the meeting was renowned IP expert, Mr. John Assien, Chairman REPRONIG and other members of the GEM Project team which include Messrs Ndubuisi Kanu, Assistant Cluster Manager, and Johnson T. Akeredolu GEM Project Officer, Tourism and Hospitality.