The High Court in Nairobi has ruled against a petition that sought to force mobile operators Safaricom and Airtel to directly pay musicians for their callback tunes, such as Skiza Tunes and Hello tunes.
The case was filed by Justus Ngemu of the Music Associations Alliance of Kenya and musician Saul Esikuri, who argued that artists were losing money to intermediary companies known as Premium Rate Service Providers (PRSPs).
Justice John Chigiti noted that while the law, specifically the Copyright (Amendment) Act No. 14 of 2022, requires direct payments, the necessary infrastructure is not yet in place. He stated that a reliable, comprehensive database of all musicians and their works is required to make the system workable. The court revoked earlier orders that had frozen funds and mandated direct payments, restoring the previous arrangement where money is paid through PRSPs.
The judge also directed the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) to expedite the creation of a national database of musicians. While the law entitles artists to at least 52% of the revenue from these tunes after taxes, the ruling highlights the ongoing challenge of transitioning from the old system to one that ensures direct and transparent payments to artists.