Protect musicians’ rights | Nation

The altercation between award-winning music group Sauti Sol and the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party over breach of copyright on its hit song Extravaganza deserves attention.

The feud has elicited diverse opinions from various parties, including the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MSCK) and the Kenya Copyright Board (Kecobo), which are tasked with protecting the intellectual property (IP) rights of artists. Sauti Sol has vowed to take legal action.

Without digging into the counter-arguments by the parties caught up in this dispute, the matter rekindles debate on the state of IP rights in the country and compensation for creative groups. There have been widespread complaints of artists not getting appropriate compensation for their work. This is a serious matter because it has the potential of wiping out the Kenyan music industry. After all, no one would continue making efforts without corresponding rewards.

Fortunately, thanks to IP protections, musicians and publishers the world over can profit from their work and heartily share their talent with society.

This works on the premise that once an artist produces a recording of one of their songs, they assume ownership of that recording or assign ownership to the label that represents them.

Each time a track is played on radio, a small amount of money is paid to the copyright owner of the song. Royalties are also paid each time an artist’s music is played on the radio.

The MSCK and Kecobo have to sensitise the public on IP rights to limit breaches while ensuring that artists duly benefit from their sweat.

The music industry has a huge growth potential and it’s proper that more effort is made towards levelling the playing field for artists through advocacy for IP rights.