AVRS holds stakeholders’ forum in Rivers

COPYRIGHT owners and users in the south-south will converge on Le’Meridien Hotels, GRA, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday, September 19, for a stakeholder forum.

The meeting organised by the Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS), the country’s sole collective management organisation for audiovisual works, will feature creators, actors, producers, filmmakers, hotels, restaurants, television stations, transport companies, video streaming services and Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms in Rivers and adjoining states.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) officials will also be at the event happening in Port Harcourt following previous editions in Lagos, Abeokuta, Abuja, Kano and Benin City.

Commenting on the meeting, filmmaker and Chairman of AVRS, Mahmood Ali-Balogun, said, “The forum aims at providing continuous education and enlightenment on the need for commercial and public users of audiovisual works to meet their copyright obligations to AVRS in line with the extant laws. Such compliance from the users ensures that filmmakers and copyright owners in the film sectors are compensated for their creativity and labour. It also helps boost investments in the audiovisual sub-sector and the performance of Nigeria’s creative economy.”

The leading filmmaker added, “The forum would also provide AVRS the opportunity to initiate functional partnerships with Rivers State Government, hotel unions, broadcast organisations and other relevant stakeholders in Rivers and neighbouring states in the South-South and South Eastern parts of the country.”

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