New body takes stage in royalties collection

Kecobo chairperson Joshua Kutuny. [Elvis Ogina, Standard]

The government has granted a one-year license to The Performing and Audio-Visual Rights Society of Kenya (Pavrisk) to oversee all music and performer rights in the audiovisual sector.

This follows a two-month selection process conducted by the Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo) seeking companies with the requisite expertise to fulfill the role of a collective management organisation (CMO).

Kecobo compiled a list of five organisations, namely the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), Film Makers Rights Achievers of Kenya (Frak), Kenya Association of Music Producers (Kamp), Pavrisk, and Collective Management Services.

Members of the public were then invited to submit written evaluations regarding the suitability of these applicants to be licensed as CMOs.

"It is important to note that this process of licensing the CMOs is coming at a time when the government has advised the board to streamline the sector to check on mismanagement of resources, unfair distribution of royalties and help cut down on the operation cost for the CMOs. The government has also advised on the need to increase allocation for the artistes to at least 70 per cent of the royalties collected," said Kecobo chairperson Joshua Kutuny.

Mr Kutuny expressed the board's concern over the persistent wrangling among the CMOs, referring specifically to the ongoing disputes involving the MCSK, Kamp and Pavrisk.

Tripartite agreement

"Kecobo was also concerned by the failure by the three CMOs to actualise an MoU signed between them and a tripartite agreement which would have cured their wrangles. It also noted that the three CMOs have previously been using the same system to collect royalties, using common staff members and two of the CMOs have been sharing an office yet each of the three entities has a CEO and separate board of directors which has been a cause for the rising cost of operations.

"To cure the wrangles between the CMOs and to make it easy to regulate the affairs of royalty collection and distribution, the board approved the licensing of a single organisation to manage all the rights in the music sector. This will help cut costs and increase royalty distribution to artists to at least 70 percent of the collection. Pavrisk will, however, not manage rights for publishing and film producers for the time being," said Kutuny in a statement.

Earlier this year, Kutuny invited the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission and the Director of Criminal Investigation to investigate the matter of royalties. He stated that the MCSK, Kamp, and Pavrisk collectively collected Sh249,687,212.80 in royalties, but there were inconsistencies in the amounts declared by each entity.

"While Kamp and Pavrisk declared a collection of Sh249 million and accounted for Sh61 million and Sh52.7 million, respectively, MCSK declared receipts of Sh109 million, representing a shortfall of Sh26 million," he said. Pavrisk is expected to commence collections immediately. Kutuny urged all stakeholders to lend their support to ensure a seamless transition.