NAIROBI, Kenya – A Kenyan court has rejected actress and content creator Foi Wambui’s attempt to exit a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by musician and producer Joseph Mutoriah, leaving her to face a full trial over the alleged unauthorised use of his song Beta.
Principal Magistrate Hosea Mwangi rejected Wambui’s application to have her removed from the proceedings after finding that the case raises a valid claim that requires determination at trial.
The decision means Wambui remains a party to the case, although the court has not found her liable for copyright infringement. The substantive dispute will now proceed for determination on the evidence presented by the parties.
The lawsuit traces back to an Oppo Reno 12 5G promotional campaign that Wambui participated in during 2024.
Mutoriah took issue with an Instagram video that Wambui posted on or around August 31, 2024, promoting the Oppo Reno 12 5G smartphone.
The promotional skit featured Wambui using the phone while Mutoriah’s song “Beta” played as the soundtrack.
Mutoriah subsequently complained that the song had been synchronised with the commercial visuals without his authorisation or a required synchronisation licence.
His lawyers sent a demand letter in September 2024, accusing Wambui and Oppo Kenya of using the song for commercial purposes without obtaining the necessary rights. The letter stated that the promotional video had also been promoted by Oppo Kenya as a sponsored Instagram post for six days.
The dispute eventually moved from negotiations to court after attempts to resolve the matter outside court failed.
Wambui sought to have herself removed from the lawsuit, arguing that she had participated in the campaign as an independent contractor and that responsibility for content approval and licensing rested elsewhere.
Reports on the dispute indicate that Wambui was paid about Sh600,000 for her involvement in the Oppo campaign. Her position placed responsibility for the disputed material on the commercial side of the campaign rather than on her personally.
Oppo, meanwhile, has also disputed responsibility for the alleged infringement. The company maintained that it did not select the music used in Wambui’s content and pointed to the contractual relationship involving the marketing agency that handled the campaign.
That disagreement over responsibility now forms part of the issues that the court will have to consider at trial.
Before the matter reached the current stage, Wambui’s management reportedly attempted to resolve the dispute with Mutoriah. The team offered the musician Sh50,000 as part of an out-of-court settlement, but Mutoriah rejected the offer.
His representatives argued that the amount did not adequately reflect the value of his intellectual property or the alleged commercial use of the song.
Mutoriah’s original complaint centred on the absence of a synchronisation licence, which generally concerns permission to combine copyrighted music with visual content such as an advertisement, film or social media video. His lawyers argued that the commercial use of Beta required the appropriate permission from the rights holder.
In rejecting Wambui’s application, Magistrate Mwangi effectively left the disputed questions for a full hearing.
The court’s decision does not amount to a finding that Wambui infringed Mutoriah’s copyright. Instead, it means that her role in the creation and publication of the promotional material remains sufficiently connected to the allegations for the case to continue against her.
