The Money Trail: ₦1.2 Billion, 20 Banks, and a Mareva Injunction
The exact sum at the centre of this dispute is ₦1,205,956,580.20 — the first tranche of copyright levy funds disbursed by the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) to the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) under Section 89 of the Copyright Act 2022 and Section 4 of the Copying (Levy on Material) Order 2021. On February 20, 2026, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos granted an interim Mareva injunction freezing the entire amount, restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria and no fewer than 20 commercial banks from disbursing, releasing, or transferring any copyright levy funds attributable to sound recordings and intended for MCSN. The order also barred MCSN from receiving, accessing, withdrawing, or otherwise dealing with the funds — whether already received or yet to be disbursed. The CBN and all 20 banks were directed to preserve the disputed sums and file affidavits of compliance within three days, disclosing the exact amounts standing to MCSN's credit. The case is adjourned to March 12, 2026, for hearing of the substantive motion.
The application was filed on February 5, 2026, under Suit No. FHC/L/CS/207/2026 by the Record Label Proprietors' Initiative (ReLPI) and 11 major record labels and music companies: Mavin Records, Davido Music Worldwide, Premier Music Publishing, Chocolate City Music, Hypertek Digital, Digital Music Commerce & Exchange (DMCE), Beggars Group Media, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment Africa, Warner Music South Africa, and Gamma Media Middle East DMCC. The plaintiff list is significant — it includes three of the four global major labels (Universal, Sony, Warner) alongside Nigeria's most commercially dominant independents (Mavin, Chocolate City, Davido's DMW). Their core argument, as outlined by ReLPI Chairman and Mavin Records CEO Tega Ogenejobo, is that the disbursement process fails to align with standard practice, particularly in establishing the shares among relevant classes of rights holders and in the transparent distribution of levies. The labels contend that they have validly opted out of collective management and administration of their rights, meaning MCSN has no mandate to collect or distribute levy funds on their behalf.
The Structural Dispute: Who Controls Copyright Revenue in Nigeria's Music Industry?
The conflict exposes a fundamental gap in Nigeria's copyright infrastructure. The Copyright Act 2022 recognises that both performers and copyright owners in sound recordings are entitled to equitable remuneration for public broadcast or communication of their work. The NCC collected the levy and remitted the first ₦1.2 billion tranche to MCSN as the designated collecting society for musical works and sound recordings. But ReLPI's position is that MCSN's mandate does not automatically extend to sound recording rights — particularly for labels that have formally opted out of collective management. The legal question is whether a "gap" in the collective management framework for sound recordings gives MCSN the right to step in without explicit authorisation from the rights owners. The court's decision to grant the Mareva injunction — one of the most powerful interim remedies available, typically reserved for cases where there is a real risk of asset dissipation — suggests the bench found the labels' concerns credible enough to warrant freezing the funds before any substantive hearing.
The dispute has already drawn in additional stakeholders. The Performing Musicians Employers' Association of Nigeria (PMAN) has petitioned the Attorney General of the Federation, raising concerns about a stakeholder forum held on February 19, 2026, at the Federal Ministry of Justice, which PMAN alleges was an attempt to fast-track ReLPI's recognition as a collecting society. The outcome of the March 12 hearing will have implications far beyond this ₦1.2 billion tranche. It will set a precedent for how copyright levy revenue — which is expected to grow as the NCC scales enforcement under the 2022 Act — is allocated between collecting societies, independent labels, and global majors operating in Nigeria. For an industry where the Nigerian box office alone generated ₦15.6 billion in 2025 and Nollywood commands 67% of Africa's continental film market, the question of who controls the royalty pipeline is not academic — it is the financial architecture on which the entire creative economy's revenue distribution will be built.