The Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights (ECCO) Inc. acknowledges the judgment delivered on February 19, 2026, by the High Court of Justice in Saint Kitts and Nevis regarding our application for Judicial Review of the Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations, 2024.

We express our sincere gratitude to the Honourable Court and the Honourable Justice Tamara Gill for the consideration dedicated to this matter. ECCO remains steadfast in its respect for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary within the Eastern Caribbean. We appreciate the Court’s vital role in providing a transparent forum for these complex legal issues to be ventilated.

Background

ECCO’s application was founded on the principle that regulations must remain within the boundaries set by substantive law. Our counsel argued that the Copyright (Collective Management Organisations) Regulations, 2024 exceeded the authority granted by the Copyright Act, 2024.

Specifically, the challenge addressed:

1. The New Licensing Mandate: The Regulations seek to impose a restrictive licensing regime on existing organisations. We contended that the Copyright Act does not grant the power to restrain a person’s ability to license their own work, nor does it authorise the restriction of established CMOs from operating without a new government-issued license.
2. Lack of Transitional Provisions: The Regulations failed to provide a “grace period,” which would allow existing entities like ECCO to continue representing members while navigating the new compliance framework.
3. Ministerial Directives: Our concerns were heightened by correspondence from the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs demanding that ECCO immediately cease its operations work we have been legally incorporated to perform for over a decade pending compliance with these new Regulations.

Factually Incorrect Statement released by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs

On the same day the judgment was delivered, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs released a statement, asserting that neither ECCO or any other CMO is currently authorized or licensed to operate in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The statement, recklessly sought to conflate ECCO’s legal challenge to the law with its compliance with the law and is contradicted by the official records of the Intellectual Property Office of Saint Kitts and Nevis (IPOSKN).

Whilst the matters concerning the 2024 Regulations were being ventilated before the High Court of Justice, ECCO proactively took the steps to comply with the new regulatory framework. ECCO was officially granted a Certificate of Authorization in July 2025 by the IPOSKN, valid through the end of 2025. Following the mandatory annual inspection and review process required by the 2024 Regulations, ECCO’s license was formally renewed for the 2026 calendar year recently in December 2025.

For the Ministry to state in February 2026 that “no CMO is licensed” is not only utterly false it is a direct contradiction of the licenses issued by its own regulatory body, the IPOSKN. ECCO recognizes the amended statement released thereafter omitting the factually incorrect assertions.

Next Steps

While the outcome at this first instance is not what we anticipated, we reserve the right to fully utilize the legal process. The Court has indicated that the full written judgment and detailed reasoning will be disseminated shortly.

Upon receipt, ECCO and its legal team will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the Court’s findings. It is imperative that we fully digest the legal reasoning before determining the most effective path forward for our members. We remind our stakeholders that the Eastern Caribbean judicial system provides various avenues for recourse, including the right to apply for a review by the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal. A final decision regarding any next step will be made once our internal review is concluded.

For over a decade, ECCO has been a cornerstone of the regional creative economy. Incorporated in Saint Lucia and registered in Saint Kitts and Nevis since 2013, we represent 960 creators across the OECS, including 85 members within the Federation.

Our mission remains unchanged: to ensure that songwriters and composers are fairly compensated when their works are broadcast by radio and TV stations, or performed in hotels, restaurants, and public events. Collective Management Organisations are essential to a thriving creative industry, and ECCO remains fully committed to protecting the intellectual property rights and livelihoods of the songwriters and music publishers we serve.

ECCO proposes the convening of a strategic meeting with the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Culture and Creative Industries, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, the Intellectual Property Office, the Attorney General, and other key stakeholders within the Federation. The purpose of this engagement is to strengthen collaboration and ensure that the rights of creatives are properly protected, enforced, and monetised in the best interest of national development. ECCO remains fully committed to working constructively and in partnership with all relevant authorities to advance a fair and sustainable creative sector.

We will provide a further update to our membership and the public in due course.

ECCO Protecting Music Rights!