Content licensing in Kenya must be structured within the Copyright Act, administered by the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO). Every licence, distribution deal and platform arrangement depends on who owns the rights, who is authorised to collect for them, and what the Act requires of anyone hosting other people’s content.
Content Licensing in Kenya: Collective Management Organisations
Section 46(1) of the Copyright Act provides that no person or association may carry on the business of a copyright collective management organisation (CMO) except under a certificate of registration granted under that section. Anyone paying or invoicing royalties should therefore confirm that the body concerned is currently authorised.
That position has changed recently. In a statement on CMO licensing, KECOBO said it licensed two organisations, KAMP Copyright and Related Rights Limited and the Performing and Audiovisual Rights Society of Kenya (PAVRISK), for one year effective 5 November 2025, following a special meeting on 14 October 2025. The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) was one of six applicants and was not among those listed as successful. Because the licences run for one year, a business that plays recorded music, broadcasts content or runs a venue should check KECOBO’s current notices before paying any CMO invoice, and should not rely on the name printed on an invoice or on what was true in earlier years.
Separately, section 30B provides that the Kenya Revenue Authority or another entity designated by the Board shall collect royalties on behalf of CMOs licensed to represent performers and owners of sound recordings, subject to sections 28 and 30.
Film and Audiovisual Rights
Film and audiovisual distribution agreements should specify the territory, the distribution windows across theatrical, streaming, broadcast and home video, the degree of exclusivity, the term and the financial structure, whether a flat fee, a minimum guarantee against revenue share, or a pure revenue share.
Cross-border deals also carry a tax cost. The non-resident tax rates in the Third Schedule to the Income Tax Act provide a rate of twenty per cent of the gross amount payable for a royalty, with a lower rate of five per cent for royalties paid by a Special Economic Zone enterprise, developer or operator to a non-resident. Double taxation agreements may reduce the rate further. Settle which party bears the withholding tax before signing, so there is no dispute over net and gross figures once the first payment falls due.
Publishing Rights
Authors should look closely at how reversion of rights is defined, because a title that goes out of print without a clear reversion trigger can leave rights tied up with no active exploitation. Digital and electronic rights should be addressed expressly, and royalty clauses should set a clear rate, a clear accounting period and an audit right.
Section 32 of the Copyright Act gives an author moral rights, which exist separately from the economic rights assigned or licensed under a contract. Section 33 deals with assignments and licences, so check that any grant satisfies its requirements.
User-Generated Content and the Takedown Regime
The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2019 added sections 35A to 35D to the Copyright Act. Section 35A provides that an Internet Service Provider is not liable for infringement by providing access to, transmitting, routing or storing content in the ordinary course of business, as long as it does not initiate the transmission, does not select the addressee, acts automatically and technically without selecting the material, does not modify it, and does not promote the content.
Section 35B sets out the takedown process. A notice must be in writing, identify the complainant, describe in specific detail the copyright work and the rights infringed, set out the content to be removed with details of where it is contained, attach an affidavit or declaration attesting to ownership and good faith, and be copied to the Board, the Communications Authority and the recognised umbrella association of service providers. An ISP must disable access within forty-eight business hours unless it receives a compliant counter-notice (section 35B(5)). An ISP that fails to act without valid justification is liable for resulting loss or damage (section 35B(6)), and a person who falsely or maliciously lodges a takedown notice or counter-notice commits an offence carrying a fine of up to five hundred thousand shillings, imprisonment of up to five years, or both (section 35B(8)).
In Multichoice Kenya Limited v Safaricom PLC & another; Kenya Copyright Board & another (Interested Party), Miscellaneous Civil Application E567 of 2019 [2022] KEHC 3256 (KLR), the High Court found the takedown notice dated 29 October 2019 valid, noted that there had been no objection to it, and issued an injunction requiring the respondent ISPs to impede use of their services to access sites used to infringe the applicant’s copyright as identified in the notice. The decision shows that a properly particularised notice can support injunctive relief against ISPs.
A platform that hosts third-party content should have a written procedure stating who receives notices, how the forty-eight-hour period is tracked, and how counter-notices are assessed.
Enforcement
Section 38 creates criminal offences connected with infringement, including knowingly making infringing copies for sale or hire, selling or distributing them, and possessing them other than for private and domestic use. Practical priorities are to confirm CMO status before paying, to build assignment and licence-scope clauses into every content contract, to put a takedown procedure in place, and to account for withholding tax on cross-border royalties from the outset.
How We Can Help
Clay & Associates Advocates advises content owners, distributors and digital platforms on content licensing in Kenya, including licensing structures, collective management compliance and the takedown framework for user-generated content. If you need to confirm which CMO is entitled to invoice you, structure a film or publishing deal, or put a takedown procedure in place, we can help before a royalty dispute or infringement claim forces the question. Read our guide to copyright law in Kenya, visit our intellectual property practice area, or contact us.
Sources: Copyright Act, sections 30B, 32, 33, 35A to 35D, 38 and 46; KECOBO, Statement on CMOs Licensing 2025; Income Tax Act, Third Schedule; Multichoice Kenya Limited v Safaricom PLC & another [2022] KEHC 3256 (KLR).
Frequently asked questions
Who can collect music royalties in Kenya?
Only a CMO holding a certificate under section 46. KECOBO has said it licensed KAMP and PAVRISK for one year from 5 November 2025, so check its current notices.
How long does a platform have to act on a takedown notice?
Forty-eight business hours, unless a compliant counter-notice is received (section 35B(5)).
Is it an offence to send a false takedown notice?
Yes. Section 35B(8) makes falsely or maliciously lodging a takedown or counter-notice an offence.
Is tax withheld on royalties paid abroad?
The Income Tax Act sets a twenty per cent non-resident rate for royalties, subject to treaty relief and the lower Special Economic Zone rate.
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This article is general information on Kenyan law as at its publication date, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an advocate and client relationship.
