Major Nigerian Record Labels Oppose NCC Plan to Pay Music Royalties to MCSN

This is a developing story...

In a letter by ReLPI, signed by its president, Mavin Records CEO Tega Ogenejobo, and made available to Pulse Nigeria, the organisation claims the disbursement process fails to align with standard practice, including in the establishment of shares among the relevant classes of rights and in the distribution of levies.

In a letter addressed to the NCC and dated January 21, 2026, ReLPI referred to a previous correspondence between the organisation and the Commission regarding the inclusion of owners of sound recordings in the distribution framework.

Pulse Nigeria obtained a letter by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) dated January 22, 2026, addressed to the commission and calling for a disbursement of the levy of copyrighted sound recordings in a manner that is judicious, equitable, transparent, and protective of the interests of the right owners whom IFPI currently represents courtesy of its recognised partner ReLPI.

The letter by the IFPI, signed by the Federation's regional director for Sub-Saharan Africa, Angela Ndambuki, demanded that the portion of the levy belonging to sound recordings must be ascertained, and the distribution mechanism should ensure the funds reach the relevant right holders, and any collective management route should only be used collecting entity has an unequivocal mandate from the relevant right holders.

IFPI further encouraged the NCC to pause the disbursement, given the risk of irreversible prejudice if funds attributed to song recordings are disbursed to an entity lacking the mandate of the relevant right holders.

This issue is the latest to rock the Nigerian music industry, which has been grappling with the lack of an organised structure for collecting royalties and levies. The existing Collective Management Organisations have been rocked by internal controversies, including leadership tussles and a legitimacy crisis, which has led to the creation of groups like ReLPI to represent the interests of major and emerging players within the ecosystem. 

The private copying levy, or copyright levy, is a form of indirect remuneration for right holders, based on the premise that some acts of private copying cannot be licensed for practical purposes by the relevant right holders.

Given the Nigerian reality, where right holders can’t license their music for private and public use, this levy is granted as a blanket compensation to the right holders.

The levy is typically attached to certain products (equipment or blank media) that can serve to reproduce audio, audio-visual, and textual material such as music, films, or books. This includes:

• Making back-up copies/archiving/time shifting/format shifting

• Passing copies to family/friends

• Downloading for personal or private use

• Uploading to digital storage facilities

• File sharing in digital networks

• Online publication, performance, and distribution within networks of friends

• User-generated content/mixing / mash-up (private activities made public)

Examples of this equipment or blank media include:

• USB Flashdrive

• SD Memory Card

• Mobile Phones

• Photocopying papers

• Photocopying machine

• MP3 Players

• DVDs

• Computer Hard Drives

• Hard drives

• DVD Recorders

• Radio and TV Enabling Recording

• Personal Computers

• Decoders and Signal Receivers

Essentially, the Nigerian government, through the National Copyright Commission, is compensating right holders in Nigerian music for the informal use of their copyright and intellectual property across the country.

Record Label Proprietors Initiative Ltd/Gte. (ReLPI) is a non-profit organisation that protects the interests of owners of sound recordings in Nigeria. It is the trade association for Nigerian record companies with members who have common economic interests in the Nigerian music industry.

Its members are among the biggest players in the Nigerian recorded music industry, owning catalogues comprising tens of thousands of sound recordings, both locally and internationally, from the 1960s to date.

ReLPI boasts membership among Nigeria’s leading labels and has been recognised by the IFPI, the global leader in copyright protection for sound recordings. 

The members of ReLPI are:

• Mavin Records

• Chocolate City

• Davido Music Worldwide (DMW)

• Premier Records

• Universal Music Group (UMG)

• Sony Music Entertainment (SME)

• Warner Music Group (WMG)

• Digital Music Commerce & Exchange (DMCE)

• Hypertek Digital

The Collective Management Organisation recognised by the Nigerian government is the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria Ltd/Gte (MCSN), established in 1984. 

On its website, the MCSN describes itself as “the only Collective Management Organization (CMO) approved by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to license, monitor, and distribute royalties for Musical Works and Sound Recordings in Nigeria.”

The about us page on the website states that MCSN “ensures that composers, lyricists, performers, producers, and publishers are remunerated when their works are used in public.”

According to MCSN, it monitors and distributes royalties for performing, mechanical, and neighbouring rights across Nigeria.

A section of the website reads “We collect and distribute royalties when your music is played on the radio, streamed online, or performed live,” with options for visitors to become a member, update their profile, submit music, and report media usage.

The MCSN website also has a section where businesses, organisations, individuals, and DJs can obtain a license to use its members' music.

MCSN boasts over 38,000 members, over 450K songs tracked, over 1 billion naira in paid royalties, and over 2,500 licenses issued since 2022.

ReLPI members exercising their rights under section 89(3) of the Copyright Act 2022 have opted out of the collective management structure in Nigeria.

Section 89(3) of the Copyright Act 2022 reads: “The levy payable under this section shall, subject to approved deductions, be paid into the Fund of the Commission and the Commission shall have power to disburse the funds to approved CMOs or other representatives of right owners, in accordance with the regulations made by the Commission.”

In their letter to the Copyright Commission, ReLPI argued that none of the existing music CMOs represent the interests of its members and thus lack the mandate to collect licence fees, including the copyright levy on their behalf.

ReLPI has refused to recognise MCSN, whose mode of operation they consider inequitable to their rights, interests, and substantial investment in Nigerian music. Section 88(9b) of the Copyright Act doesn’t extend MCSN power to cover works represented by another CMO, and section 89 (3) further allows for other duly registered bodies to receive private levy on behalf of their members.

By virtue of section 89 (3), the question whether ReLPI is a CMO becomes irrelevant as the levy proceeds are not limited to CMOs alone. The section also allows the Commission to disburse funds to other representatives of right owners, where appropriate. ReLPI clearly falls within this statutory category as a mandated representative of sound recording rights owners.

ReLPI’s position is simply that MCSN lacks the mandate to collect the private copying levy on behalf of its members.

At the time this report was compiled, the ReLPI confirmed that the NCC insisted on disbursing the levy to the MCSN as the only recognised CMO in Nigeria. 

Section 4 Copyright (Levy on Material) Order 2021 provides that the Collection Management Organisation is to receive 30% of the levy payable under the levy quarterly.

Section 89 (3) of the Copyrights Act 2022 provides that “The levy payable under this section shall, subject to approved deductions, be paid into the Fund of the Commission and the Commission shall have power to disburse the funds to approved CMOs or other representatives of right owners, in accordance with the regulations made by the Commission.”

The law allows for other representatives of rights owners, like ReLPI, to receive the levy due to its members as opposed to it being paid to a CMO under the Extended Collective License (ECL) of Section 88(9) of the Copyright Act.

According to provisions of the Copyright Act that should guide the NCC’s disbursement of the private levy order, nothing prejudices RePEL's capacity to receive this order on behalf of its members, who retain the largest market share in Nigerian contemporary music.