The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) on Thursday, June 13, ordered the immediate closure of all accounts used by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) for royalties collection.
This was announced by KECOBO Chairperson Joshua Kutuny during a meeting with Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) management.
Kenya Association of Music Producers (KAMP) and Performers Rights Society of Kenya (PRISK) were also affected by the new changes.
The closure of the accounts followed the decision by KECOBO to hand over royalty collection responsibility to PAVRISK.
“Today we held a consultative meeting with the chairman of PAVRISK Edwardo Waigwa and agreed on the immediate closure of KAMP/PRISK (KP) and KAMP/PRISK/MCSK (KPM) accounts used for collection in the previous dispensation,” Kutuny stated after the meeting.
Kutuny further stated that staff tasked with royalty collection would be given an ID with a special code from PAVRISK and KECOBO.
The code will ensure transparency and accountability of money collected as it will link directly to the collection system.
Kutuny revealed that after PAVRISK was on June 6, given the sole certificate of royalty collection, daily revenue had risen significantly.
“Following the issuance of a Collective Management Organization (CMO) license to (PAVRISK), KECOBO wishes to note that that collection of royalties from music users has increased from a daily collection of Sh600,000 to Ksh1.2 million,” Kutuny stated.
He added the introduction of an enhanced system would ensure daily collections rise to Ksh3 million.
KECOBO remarked that the decision to cut out MCSK and other bodies was informed by music users who wanted only one body to be tasked with licencing.
“Many users have reached out to us indicating their willingness to work with the Board and the newly licensed CMO for the benefit of the creatives,” a statement from the KECOBO Chairman read in part.
“I wish to warn that any organisation attempting to collect on behalf of creatives without KECOBO's license will be going against the law and legal action will be taken against them.”
