War on MCSK royalties escalates as hoteliers cry foul

Hoteliers now want the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) stopped from collecting royalties until they can assure artistes of transparency.

According to the industry players, ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru should call for a review of the tariff structure as the current one is ‘discriminatory’.

““We are not talking about 200m, we are talking about over a billion. They have been collecting money for the last 10 years…,” Frank Mbogo, PERAK Chairman said.

PERAK is the Kenya Association of Hotelkeepers and Caterers and the Pubs, Entertainment and Restaurants Association of Kenya (PERAK).

They claim that despite diligently paying license fees to MCSK, their establishments are still raided and artistes not getting their dues.

They are demanding that the Ministry in charge of communication use technology to monitor and determine royalties.

The Kenya Copyright Board also came under fire with the hoteliers calling for its disbandment.

They accused copyright management organisations of using police officers to demand for payments.

According to them, this often leads to unwarranted arrests, confiscation and destruction of their equipment.

Two weeks ago, MCSK attracted fury after remitting Ksh.2,500 to various artistes claiming that most of what they had collected was taken up by operational costs.

This caught the attention of President Uhuru Kenyatta who directed the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and and the anti-corruption agency to probe MCSK.