An Act of Parliament to amend the National Flag, Emblems and Names Act and the Copyright Act to provide for the copyright of the National Anthem.
| PROPOSED PROVISION FOR AMENDMENT | PROPOSED AMENDMENT | OUR COMMENTS |
|---|---|---|
Clause 2 Insertion of new section 2C in Cap. 99 Copyright in the National Anthem and other National Symbols | The National Flag, Emblems and Names Act is amended by inserting the following new section immediately after section 2B: 2C. Copyright in the National Anthem, other national symbols and any works or music relating to the National Anthem or national symbols are eligible for copyright and shall vest in the National Government. | As per Article 9 (1) (b) of the Constitution, the National Anthem is one of the national symbols of the republic. Pursuant to section 25 (2) of the Copyright Act, the National Government shall be the owner of copyright material (For example, literary, musical, dramatic, artistic work, photograph, audio-visual work, broadcast, sound recording etc.) for a period of fifty years from the date it was published. The Kenyan National Anthem was composed in 1963. Based on the above provisions of the Copyright Act, the National Government was the copyright owner of the National Anthem up to the year 2013. This has created a lacuna as the National Anthem has not had a copyright owner from the year 2013 onwards. On 5th February 2019, the Kenya Copyright Board indicated that the Copyright Act needs to be amended to allow the National Government to be the owner of copyright material after the expiry of the fifty-year copyright period. This was after a British company submitted a copyright strike on Youtube to a Kenyan content creator who played the National Anthem on his Youtube channel. The Bill seeks to remedy this by scrapping the fifty-year copyright period and allowing the National Government to be the owner of copyright material forever. |
Clause 3 Amendment of section 25 of No. 12 of 2001 | Section 25 of the Copyright Act is amended by inserting the following new subsection immediately after subsection (4): (5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, copyright in the National Anthem and other national symbols shall be subject to the National Flags, Emblems and Names Act. | This proposal ensures that both the Bill and the Copyright Act are consistent with one another. |