KAMP wins round one in license woes

The Kenya Association of Music Producers has successfully argued an appeal against the Kenya Copyright Board's decision on CMO licencing.

The move comes about a month after Kecobo gave a one-year licence to the Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK), formerly PRISK, as the sole collective management organisation (CMO) in Kenya.

This did not go down well with other collection management organisations and entertainment entities including the Kenya Association of Music Producers.

The Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) defended the move saying it would make it easy to regulate affairs of royalty collection and distribution. However, artistes held peaceful demonstrations, petitioning former Cabinet Secretary for Gender, Culture, the Arts and Heritage Aisha Jumwa to intervene.

“Kamp is pleased to announce that our appeal against Kecobo’s irregular appointment of PAVRISK as a multi-rights music CMO has been found to have merit. The Copyright Tribunal chaired by Elizabeth Lenjo, delivered this decision on Tuesday, July 16.

The Tribunal agreed with the grounds of our appeal against Kecobo’s decision to licence PAVRISK as the only music rights CMO, effectively precluding KAMP – without any basis, from executing its mandate on behalf of record producers and self-released artistes, local and international and other rights holders,” a press release from Kamp yesterday said.

“In our application for the said licence, Kamp had demonstrably complied with all legal requirements per the law and as indeed found by the Copyright Tribunal in its judgment in paragraph 73. Please find the full judgment attached to this statement,” Kamp said.

The Copyright Tribunal has directed Kecobo to reconsider and redetermine the applications for registration and renewal of licences submitted by Kamp, PAVRISK, and MCSK within 21 days. This reconsideration is to be conducted on the original submissions made by the respective parties.

In the interim, Kecobo has been ordered to immediately issue provisional renewal licences to Kamp, PAVRISK and MCSK.

“This provisional renewal ensures that we can continue our vital work without interruption, safeguarding the interests of our members and the broader music production community,” said Angela Ndambuki, Kamp Board Chair.

The Copyright Tribunal now becomes the third time the Judiciary has found fault with Kecobo in its decision to licence PAVRISK. In two other matters separately filed by Kamp and the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), the courts have, on a preliminary basis, equally found fault in Kecobo’s decision-making and process.

 “It is important to note that both local and foreign record companies and recording industry trade bodies expressed dissatisfaction about the process Kecobo employed in awarding PAVRISK an operating licence while denying Kamp, which has substantive representation both locally and internationally.”

In a joint statement issued on June 26 2024, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) expressed concerns over PAVRISK’s suitability to operate as a CMO effectively.

“The Recording Industry of Kenya alongside other industry associations questioned the integrity of the Kecobo decision given PAVRISK’s governance deficiencies,” said Angela.

She said Kamp is confident that if the law is applied to the letter and as indeed has been found by the Copyright Tribunal in paragraph 72, all issues that had been raised by Kecobo regarding Kamp’s licence application have been fully addressed.

The chairperson said while Kecobo retains the ability to pursue the registration of a single CMO, it must do so strictly by the law. Kamp remains committed to cooperating fully with Kecobo and other stakeholders to ensure that any developments in this area are legal, transparent, and in the best interests of rights holders.

“We thank our members and partners, for their unwavering support throughout this process. Kamp will continue to advocate for the rights and recognition of music industry right-holders in Kenya, striving for excellence and integrity in all our endeavours,” said Angela.

As soon as Kecobo awarded the licence, Kamp held a press conference where it said it would be seeking legal redress on the matter claiming its members’ rights were violated despite having met all requirements that Kecobo sought.

“We then shockingly received the announcement from Kecobo, that PAVRISK, formerly PRISK, has been selected as being the “most transparent, efficient and having capacity to collect and distribute royalties for all rights through a press statement dated June 6, 2024. We have since received a letter from Kecobo citing reasons for denial of the operation licence,” said Angela at the time.