AVRS holds AGM, members commend progress so far

Members of the Audio Visual Rights of Nigeria (AVRS) left the venue of the 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of AVRS satisfied with the achievements the organisation had recorded since its approval by the Federal Government as the sole Collective Management Organisation for cinematograph films.

Held at the Lagos Travel Inn, members particularly commended the efforts of the Board of AVRS for holding the AGM every year and for consistently distributing royalties to all registered members in the past three years.

Chairman of AVRS, Mahmood Ali-Balogun noted at the AGM that the progress so far recorded by the AVRS couldn’t have been possible without the unflinching support of members.

Earlier, Ali-Balogun had stated that the AGM was convene to among other task receive, consider, adopt and approve the audited financial statement of the AVRS for the year ended December 31, 2021, and to authorise the Management Board to carry out distribution of royalties. The AVRS chairman also spoke about the different levels of progress the AVRS had made since its last AGM in November, 2021. One of such progress was the signing of the licensing agreement with Hotel Owners Forum Abuja (HOFA).

The Chairman said, “Following from the agreement signed with Hotel Managers’ Association of Lagos (HOMAL) last year, your organisation after several meetings both in Lagos and Abuja has signed another landmark agreement with Hotel Owners Forum Abuja (HOFA). The fruits of this agreement will hopefully become visible in the coming months.”

Director General of the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Dr. John Asein who was represented at the AGM by the Director, NCC Lagos Zonal Office, Matthew Ojo commended AVRS for the achievement it has recorded so far. Asein who hinted that the NCC has made significant progress with the implementation of the Copyright Levy Scheme also remarked that the NCC would continue to partner with AVRS to achieve its objectives and better serve the interest of the film industry.

The meeting, which had in attendance the full complement of the AVRS Board also had in attendance top Nigerian movie actors and filmmakers such as Tunji Bamishigbin, Yinka Quadri, Bimbo Akintola, Fidelis Duker, Kazeem Adeoti, Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo), Saheed Balogun and Fathia Balogun.