A serious crackdown on public service vehicles is looming over unpaid copyright fees to the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK). The no-nonsense (MCSK) CEO Ezekiel Mutua has declared a total war on matatu operators who play music but have refused to pay the copyright fees.
Mr Mutua has not announced dates when the crackdown shall commence but sources divulged that the nationwide operation could be held anytime from next month. Mutua claims that due to low revenue collection in copyright fees, the state agency has not been able to pay artists. He noted that matatus play copyrighted music every day yet they have not paid for the copyright licensing fees since 2019.
“The matatu industry cannot operate without music, they play music day and night and we are asking them to pay licensing fees going forward,” the MCSK boss demanded, he also revealed that the Kenyan media industry owes MCSK over Ksh300 million.
Failure to pay the music licensing fee attracts a fine not exceeding Ksh.500,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding four years or both.
