The Court of Appeal, Lagos Judicial Division, has dismissed an interlocutory appeal filed by the Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON) against the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), affirming the decision of the Federal High Court refusing to grant an injunction against the Commission.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on July 9, 2026, the appellate court awarded costs of ₦200,000 against COSON.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Polycarp Terna Kwahar, with Justices Folasade Ayodeji Ojo and Muslim Sule Hassan concurring.
The appeal stemmed from COSON’s substantive suit challenging aspects of the Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations, 2007.
Pending the determination of the suit, COSON had sought an interlocutory injunction restraining the NCC from revoking its operating approval or interfering with its management, funds, bank accounts, audits and royalty collection activities.
However, the Federal High Court, in a ruling delivered on December 1, 2021, declined the application, holding that an interlocutory injunction could not restrain an act that had already been completed.
The court noted that COSON’s operating approval had been suspended in April 2018 and expired in May 2019 before the suit and application were filed.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court of Appeal resolved the sole issue in favour of the NCC, holding that there was no valid operating approval in existence for the lower court to preserve through an injunction.
Justice Kwahar held that both parties had shown through affidavit evidence that COSON’s operations had become inoperative before the commencement of the suit due to the suspension and subsequent expiration of its operating licence.
He stated that the status existing before the commencement of the suit was that COSON no longer had an operative licence, adding that an interlocutory injunction is meant to preserve the status quo and not reverse actions already completed.
The appellate court, therefore, dismissed the appeal for lacking merit and affirmed the ruling of the Federal High Court.
Reacting to the judgment, the NCC in a statement signed by Ijeoma Egbunike, Director, Press and Public Relations of the Copyright Commission for the Director General, described the decision as a confirmation that there was no subsisting operating approval for the lower court to preserve by injunction.
The Commission reiterated that COSON was not currently approved to operate as a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) in Nigeria.