KENYA, Nairobi – The Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK), the only organization tasked with gathering and disbursing royalties to artists has been granted a one-year license by the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), bringing a new twist to the country’s music industry.
Joshua Kutuny, Chairman of the KECOBO Board, announced the news on Thursday, June 5, 2024.
He noted that a rigorous screening procedure that sought to address the industry’s recurring problems led to this conclusion.
“To resolve the wrangles between the CMOs and simplify the regulation of royalty collection and distribution, the Board approved the licensing of a single organisation to manage all the rights in the music sector,” said Kutuny.
Kutuny observed that this will help cut costs and increase royalty distribution to artists to at least 70% of the collection.
“Consequently, the Board approved a one-year license for PAVRISK to manage all rights in music and for performers in the audiovisual sector,” Kutuny, the former Cherangany lawmaker, said.
Y News understands that the KECOBO Board grants a licence to one collective management.
KECOBO directors held a special meeting today to discuss the current year’s licensing of the Collective Management Organisation.
Y News has established that the CMO licensing process has been ongoing for the last two months.
On April 10, 2024, the Board, through an advert in the newspapers, invited companies that possessed appropriate competence to execute the task of CMOs to apply to be licensed to operate a CMO.
KECOBO had received applications from five organisations, namely;
1. Music Copyright Society of Kenya
2. Film Makers Rights Achievers of Kenya (FRAK)
3. Kenya Association of Music Production (KAMP)
4. Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) and
5. Collective Management Services
On April 30, the Board put up another newspaper advert inviting written representation on the sustainability of the above applicants to be licensed as CMOs. As a result, the Board received hundreds of written submissions.
On May 21, the Board placed yet another advert in the newspaper inviting members of the public to participate in a public participation forum on the suitability of the applicants that had been published earlier.
The forum was held on May 28, 2024, at the NHIF auditorium and attended by over 200 people, including representatives of the applicant CMOs.
“It is important to note that this process of licensing the CMOs comes when the government has advised the Board to streamline the sector to check on resource mismanagement and unfair royalty distribution and help cut down on the CMOs’ operation costs. The government has also advised increasing allocation for the artists to at least 70% of royalties collected,” said Kutuny.
After reviewing the application and the reports on public participation, Kutuny said that the Board was concerned with the continuous battles that have bedevilled the CMOs.
“It was also concerned by the three CMOs’ failure to actualise an MoU signed between them and a tripartite agreement that would have cured their wrangles. It also noted that the three CMOs have previously been using the same system to collect royalties, using common staff members. Two of the CMOs have been sharing an office, yet each of the three entities has a CEO and separate Board of Directors, which has a cause for the rising cost of operations,” said the former MP.
According to Kutuny, the Board also noted a lack of transparency in collecting and distributing royalties, which has resulted in the suffering of the artists and led to enhanced corruption and looting of the artists’ hard-earned money.
To resolve the battles between the CMOs and simplify the regulation of royalty collection and distribution, Kutuny revealed that the Board approved licensing a single organisation to manage all the rights in the music sector.
According to Kutuny, this will help cut costs and increase royalty distribution to artists to at least 70% of the collection.
“Consequently, the Board approved a one-year licence for PAVRISK to manage all rights in music and for performers in the audiovisual sector.
However, for now, PAVRISK will not manage rights for publishing and film producers,” he added.
At the same time, the Board instructed PAVRISK to start collection immediately and called all stakeholders to offer support to ensure a smooth transition.
According to the statement, the Board will shortly begin negotiating new tariffs to be published in the Kenya Gazette by December 2024, responding to the call to lower the cost of doing business for copyright work users.
It has also been confirmed that the Board of Directors also oversaw the transition in the Executive Director’s office, with George Nyakweba taking over from Edward Sigei in an acting capacity pending the recruitment of the CEO, which was to be completed by September 2024.
