Skewed Royalty Payments by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya; the Tragedy of an Ill-Equipped Regulatory Framework

Abstract

Despite the existence of a regulatory framework for CMOs in Kenya, the MCSK has been riddled with a myriad of complaints from Kenyan copyright owners who lament about skewed royalty payments. This paper discusses salient loopholes that are inherent in the Copyright Act, 2001. These loopholes are with respect to the procedure for deregistering CMOs, the plight of artists during the transition from one CMO to the next, and the question as to what constitutes ‘functioning adequately as a collecting society.’ It further suggests the most felicitous steps to ameliorate this deficiency in the regulatory framework for CMOs.

Keywords: Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Royalty Payments, The Copyright Act, 2001