MTN Nigeria CEO Karl Toriola.

The Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) has filed a criminal case against MTN Nigeria, its CEO Karl Toriola, and three others for suspected copyright infringement.

The NCC, Nigeria's regulatory authority in charge of enforcing copyright laws, claims that MTN and its top executives engaged in the unlawful use and distribution of copyrighted assets, such as music and other digital content.

The case, charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/111/2024, was filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The NCC's three-count indictment says that between 2010 and 2017, the defendants "offered for sale, sold, and traded for business" an artist's musical works without permission or authorisation.

Specifically, the commission alleges that the defendants used artists' protected musical works and sound recordings without permission.

The NCC claims that these alleged offences are in violation of Sections 20 (2) (a), (b), and (c) of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

However, according to sources from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the matter has not yet been assigned to a judge.