Court Restrains Central Bank, 12 Others From Disbursing Copyright Levies To Musical Society

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has granted an interim Mareva injunction to freeze funds from copyright levies payable to the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN).

Justice Lewis-Allagoa granted the order preventing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and at least 20 commercial banks from disbursing or releasing the funds pending the determination of the suit.

The judge issued the order in a ruling on an ex parte application filed on February 5, 2026, by the Record Label Proprietors’ Initiative and 11 major record labels and music companies.

The plaintiffs include Mavin Records Ltd, Davido Music Worldwide Ltd, Premier Music Publishing Limited, Chocolate City Music Limited, Hypertek Digital Limited, Digital Music Commerce & Exchange Limited (DMCE), Beggars Group Media Limited, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment Africa, Warner Music South Africa (Pty) Ltd, and Gamma Media Middle East DMCC.

The second to 12th plaintiffs are represented by their lawful attorney, the Record Label Proprietors’ Initiative.

In the ex parte motion filed and argued by Oragwu Nnamdi, the plaintiffs requested an order stopping the CBN from disbursing, releasing, transferring, or otherwise paying out copyright levy funds related to sound recordings meant for MCSN until the hearing and decision on a formal motion.

They also asked the court to prevent MCSN, its agents, or associates from receiving or handling these funds, whether directly paid by the CBN or routed through banks.

The plaintiffs requested that the CBN and the involved banks preserve all such funds and file affidavits within three days, revealing the amounts credited to MCSN from the levy payments.

The court, in granting the order, barred the CBN and its officials from disbursing sums payable to MCSN for copyrighted sound recordings until the matter’s full hearing.

It also ordered MCSN to avoid further dealings with these funds and instructed the banks and CBN to safeguard the sums and disclose their amounts within three days of receiving the order.

Funds already received by MCSN for recordings of the second to twelfth plaintiffs, after they had validly opted out of collective management, must be preserved as well.

MCSN was directed to account for such funds and halt any further transactions related to them until the formal hearing.

The affidavit supporting this application was sworn to by Dr Chinedu Chukwuji from Lekki, Lagos.

During the hearing, their lawyer, Oragwu Nnamdi, presented the motion, which the court approved, setting the next hearing date for March 12, 2026.