The High Court has barred the Music Copyright Society of Kenya from collecting royalties following the non renewal of its operating licence by the Kenya Copyright Board.
A ruling delivered on Friday affirmed that MCSK lacks legal mandate to levy or receive royalties for the 2025/2026 licensing period.
The decision upholds KECOBO’s refusal to renew the society’s licence as a Collective Management Organisation.
KECOBO cited multiple compliance failures in its original decision to deny renewal. The regulator alleged MCSK failed to submit certified annual returns and audited financial statements for the past five years.
Financial impropriety allegations were also raised, with claims that approximately 56 million Kenyan shillings collected on behalf of artists remained unaccounted for.
The dispute dates to January 23, when the High Court upheld KECOBO’s licence refusal. In that determination, the court ruled that disputes concerning CMO licence grants or renewals fall within the Copyright Tribunal’s jurisdiction under the Copyright Act. The matter was deemed improperly brought before the High Court without exhausting statutory dispute resolution mechanisms.
The court observed that although MCSK members framed their challenge as a constitutional petition, it was substantively an appeal against KECOBO’s administrative decision. The doctrine of exhaustion requires specialised bodies established by statute to first resolve technical disputes within their mandate.
Fresh applications were subsequently filed seeking to challenge KECOBO’s decision. MCSK members argued the licence refusal violated constitutional rights including fair administrative action and property protection.
High court maintained that presenting the case as a constitutional question did not alter its fundamental nature as a licensing dispute.
Earlier in 2025, KECOBO publicly cautioned copyright users against remitting royalties to MCSK following a March court ruling clarifying the society lacked authority to collect fees without a valid licence.
Attempts to restore MCSK’s collection powers through late 2025 failed, with courts consistently declining to reinstate its mandate and directing parties to pursue remedies before the Tribunal. Royalty collections by the society have remained suspended for much of the year.
MCSK suspension coincides with broader structural changes to Kenya’s royalty collection framework. In August 2025, President William Ruto issued a directive mandating that all music royalties be collected and distributed through the government’s eCitizen platform.
The order aims to ensure artists receive at least 70% of collected revenues, responding to long standing industry outcry over transparency where artists have historically received an estimated 11 to 13 percent of royalties collected by CMOs.
