Sunday, February 18, 2024 - Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) Boss Ezekiel Mutua has accused President William Ruto of being ignorant and foolish.
This follows Ruto’s directive for the government to collect music royalties through the eCitizen platform as he moves to streamline all its revenue collection through a single platform.
In a statement on his X page, Mutua claimed that such a directive issued by Ruto, through Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria, can be presumed as the highest level of ignorance and may lead to legal disputes.
"When a Cabinet Secretary says that the Government will collect royalties for artists through e-Citizen, it's the highest level of ignorance. Music is a talent like football or athletics" Mutua lamented.
The CEO added that since both footballers and athletes are not paid through the same platform, the government has no right to collect the creative's revenues through the same.
"Music is a private right and the government can only get the taxes accruing from payment of royalties, but it cannot purport to administer copyright on behalf of musicians" Mutua recalled.
In his claims, he stated that MCSK already has a technology for the distribution of the revenues that is soon to be implemented as the current staff are under training.
"We have received a distribution system from WIPO free of charge and they are already training our staff on how to use it," he clarified.
According to Mutua, Kenya is a signatory to the Bern Convention as well as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) which dictates against interference by the State on the administration of copyright as private property.
He thus urged the government to support Collective Management Organizations (CMOs) with enforcement and enact proper policies to protect Intellectual property.
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 Comments