‘TO CHANGE THE RESULT, YOU MUST CHANGE THE APPROACH’. THE COLLECTIVE MANAGEMENT HEADACHE IN KENYA.

Today’s focus shall concentrate on a letter written by one Mr. Bernard Kioko to the Cabinet Secretary for the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the Arts and Sports, demanding accountability for the mismanagement of his royalties from CMOs operational within the music industry in Kenya i.e. PRISK (Performers Rights Society of Kenya), KAMP (Kenya Association of Music Producer) and MCSK (Music Copyright Society) Bernard’s letter reads in part: “I am a music business owner who owns music copyright in partnership with over 200 Kenyan artists and music business people. In total, our catalog of songs spans over 2000 songs. Over the last 10 years, some of our songs have been the biggest in the country and have received immense radio and tv play. Despite this, we have not received royalties from the songs” His letter then goes on to state that upon his inquiry to KECOBO for royalties statements for royalties collected by CMOs between the years 2014 to 2021, that he managed to procure a breakdown of royalties collected; a breakdown that paints a grim reality for the future of distribution of music royalties in Kenya.

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LEGAL AID CLINIC HELD IN MOMBASA IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CREATIVES NEST FOUNDATION

The two days proved a great success as different types of creatives showed up to not only learn but to also articulate their various challenges in practice; musicians who had experienced issues with contracts, scriptwriters who wanted to know about protecting their rights, dancers who wanted to understand how to protect their works and other creatives all showed up and voiced these issues to our capable panel of lawyers composed of Immaculate Juma, Agnel Nadida, Lilian Makanga, Ndeto Kay, Mildred Mwanyika and Felicia Tunje.

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THE WAIVER ON BUSINESS PERMITS FOR FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHERS AND FILM-MAKERS

  On Monday 29th, October 2022, Nairobi city county through the county executive committee for finance and economic planning issued a waiver and/or exemption to freelance photographers and freelance filmmakers from payment of single business permits that are charged under the Nairobi City County Trade Licensing Act.   Image from Kenyanwallstreet.com There has been a lot of confusion as to which specific permit was waived following the announcement of the waiver. This is can be understood. There is a myriad of other such licenses and permits that are sought after as one is intending to open a business, conduct…

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 5 THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SIGNING AN ACTOR’S CONTRACT

“This one-sided-ness is such a stalwart of the status quo, you would be remiss to skim through a contract with such provisions without giving a second thought to the possibility of a mischief.”                       ************************************************** Contracts in any industry are commonplace. Within the film industry more specifically, contracts detail how relationships function in extensive detail. Where a film or production might want to hire the services of an actor or actress, for example, a contract in this scenario would provide specifics as far as the working relationship will be concerned. Today’s focus will be specifically on actor/actress agreements. A…

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