East Africa co-operation to fight music piracy

Ezekiel Mutua, the Kenya Film and Classification Board’s (KFCB) CEO, announced that the East African Community (EAC) member states – Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan – have drafted policies and legislation in a bid to harmonise laws to fight music piracy.

During the press briefing held on 11 December, Mutua revealed that the policies have been forwarded to the East African Legislative Assembly for approval.

Uniform laws will guide cooperation in the fight against music piracy, which has been the bane of the industry. Earlier this year, member states of the EAC opened their borders with the aim of boosting trade in the region. Hopefully, unified music laws will not only boost artists’ earnings, but will ensure increased trade of music in the region, too.

However, with advancement of technology, Mutua noted that piracy is rampant on the digital platform.

In Kenya, a music CD with pirated songs costs between 30 shillings and 50 shillings. One can also have music transferred to a USB stick or an external hard disk if they prefer.

Artists, through the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK), have tried to beat piracy by selling their music directly to telecommunication companies such as Safaricom.

The agreement between MCSK and Safaricom stipulates that artists get 70 percent of the revenue while the telecom company gets 30 percent to cover administration costs. Fans buy songs for as little as 10 shillings.

Most East African artists don’t know their rights or how royalties work. Therefore, to ensure that they don’t fall victim to piracy any longer KFCB, through a nationwide campaign, has set out to educate them.