Rights Society of Nigeria, AVRS, by the
Nigerian Copyright Commission, content
providers, now have a cause to see their
works as life-time investment.
Before now, producers of audiovisual works in
Nigeria were never in the habit of looking at
their works as sources of income beyond the
usual shelf-life of such works, often
determined by commercial success. But this
is about to change as the Nigerian Copyright
Commission finally licensed, the Audio Visual
Rights Society, AVRS, after series of
consultations with the industry, spanning a
period of almost four years. With
collaborations from such bodies as the
Nigerian Film Corporation, the World
Intellectual Property Organisation, WIPO, the
film industry in Nigeria had worked
assiduously to see this achieved, bringing the
much desired reprieve amongst producers,
whose works have continued to be feasted
upon by some corporate and non-corporate
exploiters.
Without mincing words, the new
development portends great hope for the
audio-visual business in Nigeria as the
platform would avail them the right
atmosphere to properly and consistently
harness the residuals of their works, even
when they are no longer in active practice.
Recounting the journey to the success story,
the chairman of the AVRS Board, Mahmood
Ali Balogun, who is a seasoned filmmaker,
told Arts Lounge that worried by the plight of
his colleagues who provide content, the
journey actually started officially in 2012. "In
April and September 2012, the unanimous
decision of the participants at those meetings
was to "Establish a CMO for Film and TV
Rights Holders"; that is a collective
management that would benefit all rights
holders in the industry, both economically
and from efficiency perspective. Collective
management as a collaborative effort works
on not-for-profit basis, as the revenue
collected by a CMO is money that it holds in
trust for rights holders. In order to prepare a
concrete plan of action, a small preparatory
working body of 9 persons was established.
Mahmood Ali-Balogun was endorsed to
coordinate the work to start promptly. The
task of the preparatory body was to prepare a
blueprint to stakeholders by September 30,
2012. The plan was then submitted to the
joint platform of various stakeholders for
discussion and decision, with the aim to have
necessary structures in place by December
2012. At the SeptemSunny Adeber 2012
meeting concrete steps were taken towards
the establishment of a joint CMO.
Memorandum and Articles of Association
were presented, discussed and agreed in
principle. The name of the CMO was decided
to be Audio Visual Rights Society of Nigeria
(AVRS). A national workshop was held on May
13, 2013 at the premises of NFC in Ikoyi in
Lagos. The aim of the workshop was to
discuss issues that are necessary for the next
step in the formation of AVRS. Participants
were also enlightened on the work of CMOs
and the rights and responsibilities of
members by representatives from WIPO and
NCC".
An interesting factor about AVRS seems to be
its all-inclusive manner of disbursing the
accrued royalties. In the framework, perhaps
unprecedented, production personnel other
than the producers and executive producers
would be entitled to earnings so long as their
works are registered with the society. "AVRS
is unique in the sense that the royalties will
not only go to the producer or executive
producer depending on who the owner of the
work is. The whole gamut of professionals
involved in the film work would be entitled to
royalties as they accrue. I mean some of the
people who are often ignored like the writers,
directors and other technical hands will be
entitled to earnings from their works under
the AVRS scheme. The actors would be
classified according to who played the lead
character and who played supporting lead
character; So AVRS recognises everyone
involved in the production. And registration is
free of charge".
While members are happy so far with the
development the board members of the
society- Prince Osita Okeke, Chief Gabriel
Okoye, Francis Onwochie, Emem Isong,
Fidelis Duker, Andy Amenechi, Bond
Emeruwa, Jide Kosoko, Dr. Ahmad Sarari,
Tunji Bamishigbin, Patrick Doyle, Emmanuel
Isikaku, Chief Aina Kushoro and Peddie Okao-
who by all intent and purpose are seasoned in
the business of production are being
cautioned to exercise a lot of care in handling
the affairs of the new society.
From the Nigerian Copyright Commission
came a call on members not to expect any
royalties for at least three years as it is not
feasible for such to accrue in such a short
while after stressing that AVRS is the only
body empowered by law in Nigeria to conduct
the business of administering rights in the
audio-visual field. "Your members should be
happy that this has come, but I must caution
that we at NCC will continue to monitor you.
For those who will expect royalties to start
rolling in immediately, it does not happen
that way because the CMO will need to
stabilize itself first before getting income to
distribute. I will advise that you allow a
window of at least three years".
Aside this, the issue of sensitising the public
about the vision of the CMO also came to the
fore. COSON's general manager, Chinedu
Chukwuji, outlined this as a huge challenge
that would confront the new CMO. "You have
a lot of work to do in the area of sensitization
because people need to know that it is no
longer business as usual People exploiting
the works of your members must be made to
appreciate the new changes and embrace
them as well. You can only get them to
appreciate this by sensitization."
In spite of the excitement in the industry,
there also is the cry about the need to carry
everyone involved in the project along as
pointed out by Alex Eyengho, the national
president of the Association of Nollywood
Core Producres, ANCOP. Eyengho expressed
mixed feelings at the development,
describing the licensing of AVRS as a CMO by
NCC as a victory for the industry but pointed
out that managing this victory may be more
difficult than getting the victory itself. "This is
good for the industry because the AVRS will
act as a vehicle of additional revenue stream
for right owners in the audio-visual sector in
Nigeria. I am most delighted particularly as a
founding promoter/member of the AVRS. I am
delighted and proud to be one of the 25
stakeholders who were elected by the
industry to register the AVRS as a public
company with the CAC. These 24
stakeholders as it were are Directors of the
AVRS. It is the CAC certificate of registration
of AVRS that we used in approaching NCC for
licensing as a CMO. Thank God we have now
been licensed and I guess we should be able
to hit the ground running".
For now, the AVRS will be headed by Eme
Akiba-Eyo as the general manager, while
Mahmood Ali Balogun heads the board of
fifteen members consisting of nine financial
partners and five creative partners drawn
from the various guilds in the audio visual
community in Nigeria as the chairman.
Posted By David Aniemeka
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