The Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK) will hold its Annual General Meeting on September 15, 2026 with royalty payments to members expected to take centre stage.
The meeting comes as Kenya’s copyright industry adjusts to the government’s new digital system for collecting and distributing royalties through the eCitizen platform.
PAVRISK Board Chairman Edwardo Waigwa said the society had completed its migration to the platform, which also allows users of music and audio-visual works to obtain the Unified Copyright Licence online.
He said the new system would improve transparency, curb revenue leakages, and make royalty collection and distribution more efficient.
“The new platform will ensure transparency, reduce revenue leakages, streamline collections, and facilitate more efficient distribution of royalties to copyright holders,” Waigwa said.
Members will also receive updates on PAVRISK’s financial performance, royalty collections and distributions, as well as measures being taken to strengthen accountability in the management of creators’ earnings.
The society made its first general royalty distribution last September 2025 after rebranding, paying out more than Sh24 million to its members, equivalent to 70 percent of collections realized during the 2024/25 financial year.
Waigwa termed the payout a major milestone for the organization and its members.
“This distribution is a moral and institutional milestone. It proves that investments in systems and governance yield results for rights-holders,” he said.
PAVRISK is seeking to expand licensing and royalty collection across sectors that use copyrighted works, including broadcasters, hotels and other hospitality businesses, supermarkets, banks, hospitals and shopping malls.
PAVRISK is also exploring real-time media monitoring and analytics to better track the use of creative works and ensure payments accurately reflect usage, particularly on digital and streaming platforms.
Waigwa said public participation and compliance with statutory requirements would remain central to the reforms.
The AGM is expected to put the spotlight on how Kenya’s rapidly digitizing copyright system can translate into better earnings, greater accountability, and fairer compensation for creators.
