The Government has migrated the collection and distribution of copyright royalties to the eCitizen platform, marking a major step towards revitalizing royalty management in the creative sector.
This has been realized following the signing of the Service Level Agreement between the Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) and the Directorate paving way for collection of royalties through the E-Citizen platform.
PAVRISK Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr. Joseph K. Njagih said the new system will ensure transparency, reduce revenue leakages, streamline collections, and enhance more efficient distribution of royalties to copyright holders.
This is the culmination of a presidential directive requiring Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), the regulator in the copyright sector, to roll out the digitization of collection and distribution of royalties through the E-Citizen platform
The signing of the agreement was presided over by the Principle Secretaries (PS) Dr. Belio Kipsang and Fikirini Jacobs for the State Department for Immigration and Citizen Services and the State Department for Youth Affairs and Creative Economy, respectively.
KECOBO Chairman Hon. Joshua Kutuny and the board’s acting Executive Director George Nyakweba and PAVRISK chairman Edwardo Waigwa witnessed the exercise.
This marks a great milestone in the management of the royalties collected on behalf of artists and will guarantee the requirement that at least 70% of royalties collected go directly to rightholders.
Currently, PAVRISK is the only legally licensed Collective Management Organization (CMO) mandated to collect royalties from all users of music and audio-visual works in the creative industry after the regulator barred the rest of the societies from collecting royalties.
Three weeks ago, Kenya Copyright Board barred KAMP Copyright and Related Rights Limited (KAMP) from collecting royalties after it suspended its operating license for three months for violating the Copyright Act, financial mismanagement, governance failures and non-compliance with regulatory directives.
Following the move, KECOBO mandated PAVRISK to collect royalties for and on behalf of the right ordinarily represented by KAMP, within the sectors previously allocated to KAMP under the applicable licensing framework during the suspension period.
Similarly, the board has barred the troubled Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) from collecting and distributing copyright royalties after its application for license was declined after it failed to meet licensing conditions and requirements as stipulated in the Copyright Act 2001 and Copyright (Collective management) Regulations 2020.
Njagih said users of music and audio-visual works will now obtain their Unified Copyright License (UCL) on eCitizen platform at their comfort countrywide.
“There will be no more excuses why users of music and audio-visual works will fail to comply with the regulations governing the collection of royalties by not obtaining Unified Copyright Licenses (UCL) from PAVRISK since licensing has been made simple through eCitizen platform”, Njagih added.
Njagih said PAVRISK’s licensing personnel with the collaboration of the Kenya Copyright Board, eCitizen and the National Police Service will be conducting regular inspection of business premises operated by users of music and audio-visual works across the country to ensure copyright compliance.
