The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has cautioned the Nigeria Music Industry Coalition on its declaration of “No Music Day,” which it observes is in complete negation of the terms of licence of the broadcast stations to serve the people of Nigeria, as it is difficult to conceive a programme that has no musical element to it.
A statement made available to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek by NBC reads: “The Commission does not support any move by anyone that would shut down the operations of any broadcasting station without recourse to the due process of law. We stand by broadcasting stations to render their obligations to their various publics. We however, will not condone any attempt to enforce illegality.”
“Furthermore it would mean that thematic stations with music bias would be kept effectively off air for 12 hours, which will also affect their contractual agreements with their clients,” it adds.
NBC has upheld the decision of the Nigerian Music Industry Coalition to hold a series of activities to protest the debilitating effect of piracy on the industry. “The Commission condemns in harsh terms, the activities of pirates of musical and other intellectual properties, with the devastating effect it has on the Nigerian creative sector, particularly books, films and of course, music. The Commission also supports any legitimate means rights owners pursue to protect their rights,” the statement reads.
NBC however, urges all broadcast stations to give full support to the fight against piracy by giving adequate publicity to the moves to eradicate piracy, discouraging the use of pirated materials on their stations, and keeping strictly to the conditions of their rights agreements.