The Court of Appeal in Lagos has dismissed an interlocutory appeal filed by the Copyright Society of Nigeria Ltd/Gte (COSON) against the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), upholding an earlier ruling of the Federal High Court which refused to restrain the Commission from exercising its regulatory powers.
In a unanimous judgment delivered on July 9, 2026, the appellate court awarded ₦200,000 costs against COSON, holding that there was no valid operating approval in existence for the court to preserve through an interlocutory injunction.
The judgment was delivered by Justice Polycarp Terna Kwahar, with Justice Folasade Ayodeji Ojo and Justice Muslim Sule Hassan concurring.
The dispute arose from COSON's substantive suit challenging provisions of the Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations, 2007. While the matter remained before the court, COSON sought an interlocutory injunction to prevent the NCC from revoking its operating approval or interfering with its administration, finances, audits, bank accounts and royalty collection activities.
However, the Federal High Court, in a ruling on December 1, 2021, declined the application, finding that the relief sought could not be granted because the events COSON sought to restrain had already taken place before the suit was filed.
According to court records, COSON's operating approval was suspended by the NCC in April 2018 and later expired in May 2019, several months before the substantive action and the application for an injunction were instituted.
Dismissing the appeal, the Court of Appeal agreed with the lower court that an interlocutory injunction is designed to preserve an existing state of affairs and cannot revive rights or approvals that had already lapsed.
Justice Kwahar stated in the lead judgment:
"Both the Appellant and the Respondent have demonstrated vide their affidavit evidence that the Appellant's operation had prior to the commencement of the suit become inoperative by virtue of the suspension of the Appellant's licence and expiration by effluxion of time. That is the status quo ante bellum before the commencement of the suit at the lower Court."
The court held that granting COSON's request would have effectively altered the legal position that existed before the commencement of the suit, contrary to the settled principles governing interlocutory injunctions.
Consequently, the appeal was dismissed for lacking merit, and the ruling of the Federal High Court was affirmed.
Responding to the decision, the Nigerian Copyright Commission welcomed the judgment, saying it validated its position that there was no subsisting operating approval capable of being protected by an interlocutory order.
The Commission also reiterated that COSON does not presently hold approval to operate as a Collective Management Organisation (CMO) under the regulatory framework administered by the NCC.
The judgment is expected to strengthen the Commission's regulatory oversight of collective management organisations while reinforcing established legal principles on the grant of interlocutory injunctions in regulatory disputes.