Apart from taxes and CAC obligations, event planners must comply with a broader set of legal and professional requirements. An event planner’s obligations arise from three key sources.

First, there is the duty owed to the client: delivering agreed services, managing timelines, maintaining safety and ensuring clear communication throughout the planning process.

Second, the planner is responsible for coordinating all vendors and ensuring that each provider performs their role safely, professionally and in line with agreed terms, because clients naturally hold the planner accountable for vendor failures.

Third, although many compliance duties originate from venue owners, the planner still has significant legal responsibilities. These include verifying venue safety, observing noise and signage restrictions, ensuring lawful use of music and images, and handling personal data in accordance with NDPA 2023 and other applicable laws.

Together, these three areas form the full legal and operational framework that governs the work of every modern event planner.

What is music licensing?

Music licensing is the legal permission required to use copyrighted music in your business or organisation. When you obtain a music licence, you are authorised to play, perform, broadcast, stream, reproduce, or otherwise use protected musical works.
It ensures that composers, songwriters, performers, producers, publishers, and other rights owners are properly compensated for the use of their intellectual property.

What happens if I do not get a music licence?

Using music without a valid licence is a breach of copyright law. This can result in:
• fines and penalties,
• business disruption,
• legal action by rights holders, and
• reputational risk.
A licence from MCSN protects your business from copyright infringement and ensures compliance with Nigerian copyright regulations.

Dear Business Owner,

Happy New Year 🎊

Businesses often make early-year payments to preserve commercial relationships or to re-establish momentum after delays or disagreements.

Where such payments are made, it is important to clearly state their purpose — whether in respect of a specific invoice, a contractual milestone, an advance, or a settlement.

Payments made without clear attribution frequently give rise to avoidable disputes, as parties may later attach different meanings to the same transaction.

Clarity at the point of payment is a simple but effective risk-management tool.

Understanding Copyright Ownership in Film and Music

A completed film is not one single copyright.
It is made up of different creative works such as the script, performances, music, sound recordings, and the final edited film. Each of these can have a different legal owner.

Music used in a film usually has two separate copyrights.
The musical composition and the sound recording. Paying for music or receiving permission to use it does not automatically mean ownership has changed. In most cases, it is only a licence that limits how, where, and for how long the music can be used.

This is where Content ID becomes important.
Platforms like YouTube automatically use Content ID to identify and enforce music rights. They do not ask who made the film. They ask who registered the music. If someone else registered it, monetisation can be redirected, frozen, or disputed until ownership is clarified.

Most copyright disputes are not caused by theft, but by unclear agreements and incomplete rights documentation.
Clear contracts matter.

https://youtu.be/8l7VNbdcL28?si=HYtFPUDFcGg0x-xV

This was recorded three years ago, but it is still relevant to this discussion. Many people assume that only marriages conducted at Ikoyi, Abuja, or other Federal registries are valid for international use.

That assumption is not entirely correct.

When I was preparing to get married, I made enquiries at Somolu, Lagos, to be sure the registry was properly licensed. The marriage certificate issued to me was the same as the one issued to my sister, who got married at the Ikoyi Registry.

So, if you can avoid the stress, please do.