**BASSETERRE, SAINT KITTS – On June 5, 2025, the High Court of Justice denied an application for interim relief filed by the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. The organisation sought to suspend the enforcement of the 2024 Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations.**
The Regulations, which were enacted under the Copyright Act No. 14 of 2024 and came into force in December 2024, establish a regulatory framework for Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) operating in Saint Kitts and Nevis. This framework ensures that all CMOs are licensed and regulated, promoting transparency, accountability, and fairness for event promoters and creatives.
The Court’s denial of the injunction supports the Government’s assertion of its right to implement a licensing regime that protects local rights holders and the public from unregulated and potentially exploitative practices. The substantive legal arguments raised in ECCO’s claim challenging aspects of the Regulations will be addressed in a future trial.
The government presented the following evidence to oppose the injunction application:
– ECCO had been consulted on the Regulations since 2023.
– ECCO did not apply for the required authorisation to operate under the new law.
– ECCO continued to issue licenses unlawfully after the Regulations took effect in December 2024.
– ECCO was not in good corporate standing, having failed to file its annual returns for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, and 2025) until public notice was issued by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.
– ECCO was downgraded to provisional status by its international oversight body (CISAC) and had delayed royalty payments to creatives for several years.
The Regulations were developed through close collaboration with regional and international stakeholders, including the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), and were the result of over three years of public consultations.
Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs, Hon. Garth Wilkin, remarked, “The Regulations are designed to ensure lawful and credible collective rights management. They protect our creative industries from opaque or improper licensing practices and empower the State to safeguard the economic rights of artists, musicians, and other copyright holders.”
The Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis remains committed to fostering a fair, transparent, and well-regulated creative economy. It encourages all organisations wishing to operate in the collective management sector to comply fully with the law. The Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs would like to reiterate to the public that ECCO is not authorized to operate within the jurisdiction of Saint Kitts and Nevis at this time. No other collective management organisation (CMO) is similarly authorised.
ECCO was represented by Victor Dane Hamilton, while the Government was represented by the Solicitor General and Crown Counsel II, Sasha Lloyd.