Why Sauti Sol are right in clash with Azimio over ‘Extravaganza’
Sauti Sol band members, from left, Polycarp Otieno, Willis Chimano, Savara Mudigi and Bien-Aimé Baraza.
Under music law, several people can own rights to a copyrighted song, what is referred to as Intellectual Property (IP). For example, an artist can be talented in just singing but not song writing.
So when another person writes the song, they acquire some rights to the song. Music education and disinformation has become the hot topic of the week.
This was triggered by boy band Sauti Sol who threatened to sue the Azimio la Umoja One Kenya Coalition Party for violating copyright laws by playing one of their popular songs. The party used the hit song Extravaganza in a video to announce Narc-Kenya leader Martha Karua as the running mate of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
From the online discussions, it is evident that a majority of Kenyans are not well versed with music copyright, licensing and IP rights. So what exactly was Sauti Sol crying foul about? To understand this, lawyer, deejay and CEO of Music Advocate Africa Robert Asewe says it is important to first be aware of the different components of music ownership.
“In music, there is the author, composer and publisher. The author and composer can be one person but sometimes it might not. For example, an artist might be good at singing but not good at song writing and therefore they may procure the services of someone else, this person automatically acquires some rights to the song,” Mr Asewe said.
The dispute between Sauti Sol and Azimio stems from the manner in which the song was used. Azimio made an audio-visual using the song and used it on a private platform, which is not part of the license given to them by Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK). Synchronization rights usually remain with the artist.
“For instance if a film-maker wants to use a song in their film, they will not go to MCSK to get a licence but will have to contact the artist directly for permission,” Mr Asewe said.
For Azimio to create a video using Sauti Sol’s song and share the video on their social media platforms was a copyright infringement not to mention taking away the band’s freedom of association.
“Under copyright laws the artist has something called moral rights. This means they can decide to either be associated with any affiliations. Whether political or otherwise, with the video the message that is being sent is that Sauti Sol have now given their support to Azimio,” Mr Asewe said.
