Court Bars MCSN From Touching Copyright Levy Funds, Orders CBN, 20 Banks To Freeze Accounts

A Federal High Court in Lagos State has issued an interim Mareva injunction freezing copyright levy funds payable to the Musical Copyright Society of Nigeria (MCSN) and restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) alongside 20 commercial banks from disbursing the funds pending further court proceedings.

According to Ireporter Online, Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa granted the order in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/207/2026 following an ex parte application filed on February 5, 2026, by Record Label Proprietors’ Initiative and 11 prominent 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, Beggars Group Media Limited, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment Africa, Warner Music South Africa (Pty) Ltd, and Gamma Media Middle East DMCC.

The banks affected by the injunction include Access Bank, Citi Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, FCMB, GTBank, Heritage Bank, Keystone Bank, Skye Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Standard Chartered Bank, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, UBA, Unity Bank, Wema Bank, Zenith Bank, Ecobank, SunTrust Bank, and Enterprise Bank.

The plaintiffs, represented by their legal counsel, sought a court order preventing the CBN from releasing any copyright levy funds intended for MCSN and restraining the society and its agents from accessing, withdrawing, or otherwise dealing with such funds. They also requested that the CBN and affected banks preserve the funds and file affidavits within three days detailing amounts credited to MCSN.

In his ruling, Justice Lewis-Allagoa directed that all copyright levy funds, including those already received by MCSN but attributable to sound recordings owned by the plaintiffs, be preserved intact. MCSN was instructed to provide a full account of such funds and refrain from any transactions pending the hearing of the Motion on Notice, which has been adjourned to March 12, 2026.