Monrovia, Liberia – The Copyright Society of Liberia is distributing Welfare benefits in the form of pay checks to numerous right holders ahead of the country’s 178th Independence Day celebration. The program which was held on Tuesday July 22, 2025 at COSOL offices in Monrovia was attended by diverse creators ranging from Gospel, Traditional, Secular or Hip Co musicians.
The COSOL Welfare Distribution this year is the second disbursement since it started operating in 2020. It was conducted in an open process, requesting that all rights holders provide their songs, lyrics, and allocated ID number. The Director General of the Liberia Intellectual Property Office, Madam Garmai Koiboi, addressed a large number of rights holders during the welfare distribution program. She stressed that the purpose of the welfare distribution to artists and RIGHTS HOLDERS is to acknowledge and value their contributions.
“I want to clarify that today’s event is about welfare disbursement rather than royalties distribution. This is LIPO and COSOL’s way of thanking you for the amount of work you creators do on this Independence Day celebration,” DG Koiboi remarked.
She urged all Liberian creative individuals and RIGHTS HOLDERS to join COSOL and LIPO. “Because the Liberian government is willing to support the creative sector, we are currently working behind the scenes to ensure that your music played by betting companies during the promotional hours on radio is paid for before playing. This will bring joy to musicians very soon,” she added.
Hon. Clarence H. Cole, the Board Chairman of the Copyright Society of Liberia and LIPO’s Deputy Director General for Copyright, emphasized that the distribution of welfare is not just about providing but also honoring the values and efforts made by artists through their creation.
“Since today’s welfare distribution is a result of your diligence and hard work, I would want to specifically mention those who continue to foster economic progress by using their talents in comfort,” Hon. Cole declared.
According to Mr. James Yandan Draper, Executive Director of the Copyright Society of Liberia (COSOL), musicians and artists nationwide should make it their mission to join COSOL, as this will increase membership.
According to him, COSOL is dedicated to defending the rights of artists across the nation, thus in order to prevent misuse, creators and right holders should abide by the regulations by joining the association.
“We will have more opportunities and incentives for rights holders the more members we have,” Mr. Draper added.
With the goal of creating a creative value system in our society where renown and popularity are closely correlated with the amount of money that rights holders generate, the Copyright Society of Liberia was founded in October 2019 but just started operations on August 17, 2020.
Through the provision of a platform where creativity may serve as a source of substance for the community, COSOL said it seeks to enable rights holders to profit economically from their creation.
The purposes and objectives of the Copyright Society of Liberia are to guarantee that individuals of the creative sector are aware of the commercial side of their creativity and to develop a system that would precisely and promptly collect and distribute royalties over creative items.
Along with attracting new and ongoing investment in the creative sector throughout Liberia, COSOL is also in charge of organizing the chain of commerce for creative works.
Reported by: Jenneh Borbor
