The Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) has suffered another setback in its fight to retain its role in collecting royalties after the High Court stopped it from carrying out functions reserved for licensed collective management organisations.
Justice Linus Kassan issued the orders while dealing with three interlocutory applications linked to MCSK’s challenge against the Kenya Copyright Board’s (Kecobo) decision to deny the society a licence.
The court has specifically restrained MCSK from collecting royalties and licence fees from users of copyrighted works where the law requires a valid licence.
It has also prohibited the society from presenting itself as a licensed Collective Management Organisation (CMO) until its appeal is heard and determined.
MCSK had moved to court seeking permission to continue collecting and sharing royalties on behalf of its members as it pursued its appeal.
The society wanted the court to let it carry on with the work while waiting for a final decision on its challenge to Kecobo’s refusal to issue it with a licence.
Kecobo opposed the request and filed its own application seeking orders to stop MCSK from collecting or imposing royalties and licence fees on people using copyrighted works.
After considering the applications, Justice Kassan found that MCSK does not have a current licence allowing it to carry out the statutory duties of a CMO.
“Pending the hearing and determination of the substantive appeal, the appellant , whether by itself, its servants, agents, officers or any person acting under its authority, is restrained from holding itself out as a licensed Collective Management Organisation,” the court ordered.
The judge also barred MCSK from “collecting, demanding, invoicing, receiving or levying royalties or licence fees from users of copyrighted works” in cases where such activities require a licence under Section 46 of the Copyright Act.
The orders will remain in place as the substantive appeal proceeds before the court.
The case traces back to October 2025, when Kecobo rejected MCSK’s application for a licence to operate as a CMO.
The board said the society had failed to satisfy the licensing conditions set out in the Copyright Act and the Copyright (Collective Management) Regulations, 2020.
MCSK was dissatisfied with the decision and took the matter to the Copyright Tribunal.
Before the Tribunal, the society argued that Kecobo had acted outside the law and treated it unfairly when making the decision to deny it a licence.
The Tribunal rejected MCSK’s challenge and confirmed Kecobo’s decision.
The society subsequently moved to the High Court, where it sought to continue handling royalties for its members as it pursued a further challenge.
Kecobo, meanwhile, maintained that MCSK should not be allowed to perform CMO duties without a valid licence.
The High Court has now sided with the board on the interim application, stopping MCSK from collecting royalties and licence fees in areas covered by the licensing requirement.
Royalties are payments made to copyright holders when their songs, recordings and other protected creative works are used for commercial purposes.
CMOs act on behalf of creators by licensing users, collecting payments and distributing the money to copyright owners.