Written By John Mutiso 📝
Members of Parliament have passed the Copyright Amendment Bill which will give copyright holders and artistes an upper hand in negotiations and establishment of a new formula for sharing of revenue with telecom companies.
The Bill sponsored by Homa Bay Woman Rep Gladys Wanga provides that artistes will get the lion’s share of revenue generated from their ringback tones.
It provides that they get 52 per cent of revenue generated from their ring-back tones.
Initially, the formula provides that only 16 per cent of the net revenue generated goes to artistes from the Skiza music platform, with 25 per cent going to the taxman and 51 per cent retained by telecommunication companies.
According to the Bill, artistes will get an additional benefit of 9 per cent excise tax benefit. At the same time,16 per cent will go to the telecommunication companies, another 7 per cent to PRSP while 16 per cent will be Value Added Tax.
The National Assembly also passed a further amendment that will allow artistes/copyright holders to be directly receiving their share of the revenue and not through collection agencies like the CBOs and the PRSPs and so on.
Acting Finance and National Committee Chairman Mark Nyamita noted that an artiste reported to the Committee that they had not received payments for an estimated eight months from collection agencies .
“An artiste said they had not received payments, for an estimated eight months, but now we have specified the percentage which Safaricom say it okay, to ensure that the money gets to them because of time value for money,” he stated.
The Bill now awaits to be signed into law by the President.
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