‘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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WE GO FURTHER WHEN WE GO TOGETHER

In recognizing that the Kenya Copyright Board is a State Corporation under the Office of the Attorney General & the Department of Justice established by section 3 of the Copyright Act 2001 and mandated with the administration and enforcement of copyright and related rights, we felt that they would be the ideal partner to involve every time we wanted to conduct our trainings as ArtLawKenya; more specifically on the topic of copyright and related rights.

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I’M A POP STAR NOT A DOCTOR

Si you remember that nephew of yours who told you that they wanted to be a full-time music producer and you held your chest in shock pain? When you yourself thought you wanted to pursue a course and career in animation and your parents thought you were in depression or on drugs? And with the quickest succession you told your nephew how he was ‘safer’ pursuing something more ‘marketable’ like – sing it with me – ‘medicine’, ‘law’, ‘engineering’, ‘architecture’ or ‘financial accounting’? And you yourself convinced your mind that the animation dream was probably just a side effect of overdosing on Ed, Edd and Eddy? Your funny bone and illustrator skills be damned!

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