Nipost, Musicians Partner to Fight Copyright Thieves

Nigerian Postal Service (Nipost) has agreed to allow Nigerian musicians display musical and ancillary works released in the country or imported pass through a controlled distribution system to get works closer to consumers, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek has learnt.
The move represents the most efficient commercial solution to illegal operations in products of entertainment industry, by the most informed and educated opinion on the subject.
Nipost and Performing Musicians’ Employers’ Association of Nigeria-NIGERIA Music Distribution Network (PMAN- NMDN) have therefore formalized deal last week in hope that it will permit accountability, transparency, and efficiency.
Admiral Dele Abiodun, president Pman, and Alhaji Ibrahim Mori Baba, post master-general signed respectively a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) for their organizations.
Abiodun said the kick off of the MDN is a sign that the entertainment industry in general will be better off in a short while.
He said that “The MDN is a scientific model of music distribution; it will help in sanitizing the distribution of music in Nigeria. In fact, I ’m extremely happy about this because this is one of those things we promised Nigerian musicians when we were coming on board. Nigerian musicians can now concentrate on their works and forget about how it is distributed.
Mori Baba described the signing of the JVA as historic, noted that Nipost is ready to contribute its own part of the bargain.
By this agreement, the services and facilities of the NIPOST in terms of warehousing, transportation and ICT tracking systems, which allow letters and parcels to reach the farthest reaches of the country on 24 to 48 hour basis, are being conscripted to ensure that music and other commercial works on CD, VCD and DVD reach the market all over the country simultaneously from the date of release, leaving no vacuum for illegal dealers to fill, which is the principal opening that allows pirates to operate.
With the signing of the deal, Nipost will henceforth provide spaces at designated post offices premises for the distribution of musical and ancillary works, inform of large consignment of commercial CDs, VCDs and DVDs and brought to it from any other sources, act as registration agent for stakeholders and works in its possession within the period agreed for the recipient to pick them up.