Preparations have been concluded for the 6th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nigeria’s sole copyright collective management organization for audiovisual works and cinematograph films, Audio Visual Rights Society Ltd/Gte. (AVRS), which AGM is scheduled to hold on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 10.30AM.
According to the Acting General Manager, Mrs. Olubukola Adeyemi who recently came back from Harare, Zimbabwe where she has represented AVRS and Nigeria in a copyright and collective management for audiovisual works training, the AGM will receive, consider, approve and adopt the audited financial statements of the company for the year ended December 31, 2021 and the report of the Auditors thereon. Mrs. Adeyemi also said that the AGM will also consider the position of the auditors and make changes where necessary and authorize the directors to determine the remuneration of the auditors.
Furthermore, the Acting GM said, the AGM will approve and ratify the recommendation of the AVRS Board for the distribution of royalties to all deserving members and affiliates of the organisation.
The Acting General Manager further reported that already, notices of the AGM have been sent to members of the organisation spread across the nation. Mrs. Adeyemi said, following from last year’s in-person AGM and the return of full business activities across the country, this year’s AGM will once again be held physically at the prestigious Lagos Travel Inn Hotel, 39-41, Toyin Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
Nigeria’s veteran film maker extraordinaire and AVRS Chairman, Mr. Mahmood Ali-Balogun speaking on the readiness of the organisation for the forthcoming AGM said, “despite the huge challenges faced by our organisation as a result of rising cost of living, inflation and the lack of respect by some users for the right of creators, we continue to move on, we continue to change the copyright licensing landscape and we continue to restore our members dignity in their creative labour by ensuring that whenever their works are used publicly or commercially, AVRS is there knocking and demanding for appropriate compensation for the exploitation of these works. We are razor focused to ensure that every filmmaker in Nigeria, is compensated for the public use of their works and above all, we continue to meet our statutory responsibility by ensuring that every year, we meet our members at an AGM, to render full accounts of our stewardship.”
