On 4th April 2022, The Copyright(Amendment) Bill,2021 was signed into law.
Amongst the notable changes made by the new Copyright law is the introduction of a new formula in the sharing of revenues collected from ring back tunes. It provides under section 30(c) that premium rate service provider shall be entitled to 8.5%; telecommunication operator 39.5%; and the artist or owner of the copyright shall be entitled to not less than 52% of the revenue.
The origin of the Amendment lies in creators, in particular artists, getting the short end of the stick from their works while the telecommunication operators and tech companies took home the big win.
Before hand, there was no structured revenue sharing which placed artists at the risk of being unfairly exploited from their works. The new Copyright law places a mandatory requirement for artists to earn not less than 52% of the revenue earned from their skiza ring tunes.
Even though the new Copyright law is a welcomed reprieve for Kenyan artists, implementation of new law requires good will from all players so that it is not merely good on paper.