This is Why Kigame Went Court
Founder and Managing Director of Kigame Media, Reuben Kigame has gone to court to obtain orders to halt regulations against creative content.
“I confirm that I went to court and managed to obtain orders yesterday
to halt a punitive regulation against creative content makers from
implementation, ” he said.
He says the government has announced plans to commence collection of the Blank Tape Levy.
“This levy is imposed on items that may be used to carry copyright-protected content for private copying and is payable at the point of entry into Kenya or the point of manufacture if the manufacturer is in Kenya,” added Kigame.
He said while this is a commendable move by the government, it should be noted that the levy, as currently proposed, will not benefit all copyrightable content creators.
“It will serve the interests of CMOs while leaving out the interests
and concerns of the real content creators who were neither consulted on this levy nor assured benefits from its implementation given the poor collection and distribution history by CMOs who have not been remitting payment to creators as required, ” Kigame said.
He said the government plans to forward the money collected to the three Collective Management Organizations i.e. Music Copyright Society of Kenya, Kenya Association of Music Producers and Performers Rights Society of Kenya is uncalled for.
“I filed a Petition at the High Court in Nairobi yesterday, 12th September,
2023, to challenge this law and to ensure that the money collected is fairly distributed across all copyright owners. I am grateful that the Court has stopped the distribution of the money until the 16th of October 2023 when the matter will be heard, ” he said
Kigame said the Petition does not challenge the collection of the Blank Tape Levy.
“My petition seeks to protect the collected money from being unfairly distributed to exclude one class/ category of copyright owners.We must continue testing all laws against the Constitution to eliminate any form of discrimination in the industry, ” he added.
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