Royalties licence stopped by court
The management of copyright in Kenya requires a lot of work and investment. The average Kenyan musician is poor and cannot live off his talent.
What you need to know:
- Pioneer Benga artiste Laban Juma Toto and Mr David Amunga famously remembered for his song 'Someni vijana' had sued Kecobo and the Attorney General in a suit in which Music Copyright Society of Kenya as well as Music Publishers Association are listed as interested parties.
- According to the board, MCSK failed to fulfill requisite conditions attached to its last license and that they specifically failed to tender last audited financial statements.
State owned Kenya Copyright Board has suffered a setback after a High Court suspended its decision to deny the Music Copyright Society of Kenya a licence to collect royalties on behalf of Kenyan artistes.
Justice Jesse Njaga issued the directive after two renowned musicians moved to court to protest against Kecobo’s March 27 decision.
Pioneer Benga artiste Laban Juma Toto and Mr David Amunga famously remembered for his song 'Someni vijana' had sued Kecobo and the Attorney General in a suit in which Music Copyright Society of Kenya as well as Music Publishers Association are listed as interested parties.
The judge issued the temporary order during a court sitting in Kakamega on Wednesday.
“This matter is certified as urgent, I hereby grant orders stopping the decision of Kecobo of approving the license of Mpake and revoking the license of MCSK pending the hearing and determination of this case,” the judge said.
Kecobo had late last month decided to grant Music Publishers Association of Kenya (Mpake) the licence to collect royalties on behalf of authors, composers and publishers till February 2018 while revoking MCSK’s licence.
According to the board, MCSK failed to fulfill requisite conditions attached to its last license and that they specifically failed to tender last audited financial statements.
The said statements are supposed to include information on a comprehensive report of its activities for the whole year, list of its members, amounts of royalties collected and amounts paid as royalties to each member.
The said document should also show how money was spent in administrative costs and contacts of its current officials as well as auditors.
