In recent years, Kenya's music and entertainment industry has grown tremendously. There are more record labels, music veterans, as well as more young and fresh talent.

The number of entertainment law practitioners is also increasing, as more lawyers now specialise in this field. It's a business like any other, and musicians should consider these legal risk management methods.

As a musician or songwriter, one need is that your work is copyright protected, and to qualify for copyright, your work must be original and tangible. Want to know more? This article will give you an overview of the copyright law in Kenya.

Let’s get started.

Understanding Copyright 

If you're a musician, you understand how much time, effort, and passion goes into each song. After all that effort, there's a good chance you'd prefer to protect your creations.

This can be accomplished by filing a copyright claim for your music.

You are essentially defending your government-granted intellectual property rights when you copyright your song (your music). Once you submit a copyright, others will be unable to use your work without your permission, which is critical if you want to further your music career.

Copyright law is a complicated subject, according to Washington State University, and music is one of the most limited and licensed areas of copyright law.

In simple words, Copyright is a type of intellectual property that allows the creator of an original creative work to decide whether or not it can be copied and under what conditions others can copy or use it.

By now you may be aware that copyright protects your ownership of your musical creations and that measures exist to hold other people accountable when that ownership is breached. 

But how do you put your rights into action? 

The Copyright Act of Kenya

The Copyright Act of Kenya protects artistic and musical works, literary works, sound recordings, audio-visual works, and broadcasts. The Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) is the entity in charge of enforcing and monitoring copyright laws in Kenya. 

Infringement of literary, musical, and artistic works, as well as audiovisual works, sound recordings, and broadcasts, is prohibited by the Copyright Act of Kenya. The Board's principal functions include directing, coordinating, and supervising the implementation of laws, international treaties, and conventions to which Kenya is a party pertaining to copyright and other rights recognised by this Act, as well as assuring their respect.

Elements of Copyright: The owner of a work/song must meet two conditions in order for it to be eligible for copyright protection under the law.

• Demonstrate enough effort in the development of the work to give it a unique identity.

• Reduce the work to material form by writing it down, or recording it.

Duration of protection: The length of a copyright depends on the type of work. For literary, musical, or creative works, the term is fifty years after the owner's death.

Rights Protected by this Copyright: Copyright safeguards your rights. Economic and moral rights are the two types of rights provided under copyright law. Economic rights enable the owner to profit financially from the use of the work.

Moral rights, on the other hand, allow the owner to take steps to maintain the link between themselves and the work.  A copyright holder has the following rights:

• Sale, renting, lease, loan, importation, or other similar arrangements to the broader public of the work

• Reproduction of the work

• Publication of information

• Translation into a foreign language

• Adaptation of a work, such as a novel, into a screenplay

• The entire work or a large section of it in its original form is indistinguishable from the original.

• The right of paternity – the right to claim authorship of the work

• The right of integrity – the right to object to any distortion or modification of the work, as well as any action that hurts the owner's reputation or honour.

Copyright Registration Requirements:

• The work must be original, tangible, and of original conception.

• Two copies of the original work must be submitted with the application form.

• An Oath Commissioner must complete and commission the application forms.

• Submit the application form along with the requisite fee, and KECOBO will send a certificate of registration after examining it.

Steps for Copyright Registration in Kenya

The steps for copyright registration in Kenya are as follows:

Step 1: Visit the Kenya Copyright Board's headquarters and obtain registration forms (also available online here)

Step 2: Fill out the required fields.

Step 3: Have the forms commissioned by an Oath Commissioner.

Step 4: Submit two ORIGINAL copies of your work.

Step 5: Pay the registration fee into the Kenya Copyright Board's bank account:

• Account number: 1104002450 

• Account name: Kenya Copyright Board Kipande House Branch - Kenya Commercial Bank

Step 6: Present the Bank Deposit Slip to the KECOBO reception desk to obtain a registration receipt.

Step 7: The ORIGINAL "Certificate of Registration" will be issued within 5-7 days of registration.

Note; The 5-7 days allow KECOBO's Legal Department to conduct a thorough verification of the copyright works provided for registration.

What Happens After You Copyright Your Music in Kenya?

After your work has been copyrighted, you have the sole right to control the reproduction of your original work in any material form, pursuant to Section 26 of the Copyright Act. 

You have the right to decide how your work is adapted or translated, as well as how it is distributed to the public through sales, leases, rental, loan, hire, or imports. You also have control over public communication about your work.

Finally…

Copyrighting your music is an investment in both your musical career and your peace of mind. If someone steals your intellectual property without your permission, you'll be ready to sue. 

To stay ahead of any problems, you can even outsource this type of advice from a law practitioner.