NAIROBI, Kenya – The High Court has declined to temporarily reinstate the Music Copyright Society of Kenya’s (MCSK) authority to collect and distribute royalties, dealing a fresh blow to the troubled collecting society.
In a ruling delivered on December 11, 2025, Justice Linus Kassan refused to grant interim orders staying a decision by the Copyright Tribunal that barred MCSK from operating due to the absence of a valid licence. The judge instead directed that the matter be heard inter partes next year.
“Upon perusal of the motion dated the 10th day of December 2025, I direct that the matter be heard inter-partes on the 21st day of July 2026,” Justice Kassan ruled.
MCSK had moved to court under a certificate of urgency on December 10, seeking to suspend both the Tribunal’s decision and an earlier determination by the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), which declined to issue the society with an operating licence for the 2025–2026 period.
Through its lawyer Duncan Okubasu, MCSK also sought an injunction to stop KECOBO and the Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) from interfering with its royalty collection and distribution activities.
However, the Tribunal’s ruling of November 25, 2025, had already discharged interim orders that briefly allowed MCSK to continue collecting royalties, holding that the society had no legal authority to operate without a valid licence.
The Tribunal found that an unlicensed entity cannot collect royalties or issue unified licences to users of music and audio-visual works, a position anchored in the Copyright Act and reinforced by recent High Court decisions.
The dispute stems from KECOBO’s refusal, on October 14, 2025, to renew MCSK’s licence as a Collection Management Organisation (CMO) for the 2025–2026 period, prompting an appeal filed on October 16.
In opposing the appeal, KECOBO, represented by lawyer Alex Nyabwengi, argued that only duly licensed CMOs may collect and distribute royalties under Section 2 of the Copyright Act.
The board said it had already issued operating licences to PAVRISK and KAMP Copyright and Related Rights for the period beginning November 5, 2025.
KECOBO further cited ongoing legal uncertainty in the sector following High Court rulings that nullified existing tariffs.
Justice Chacha Mwita had earlier quashed tariffs published under Legal Notice No. 84 of 2023 for lack of public participation, leaving no valid tariffs in force.
MCSK, however, maintains that KECOBO acted unlawfully in rejecting its licence application.
In court filings by Okubasu and Munene Advocates, the society argued that the board wrongly faulted it for failing to submit certified annual returns and audited accounts for the five years preceding the application, as required under the Copyright Regulations, 2020.
According to MCSK, the alleged deficiencies did not justify denial of registration and were misinterpreted by both KECOBO and the Tribunal.
The High Court will now hear the matter substantively on July 21, 2026, leaving MCSK barred from royalty collection until then.
