To what
extent do you own your song?
Music composers share their creativity from
only twelve notes in music. Of course there are several musical scales which
give all sorts of melodies and chords. All music is derived from this pool and
therefore, similarities occur in songs as musicians express their creativity.
This brings the issues of ownership in to play, thus copyright emerging to
protect eveyone.
Copyright protects the original expression of
an idea that has been reduced to a tangible form from being copied without
authority. It does not protect the concept or the idea. This is because
one cannot have a monopoly over an idea. Copyright protection is automatic once
an idea has been reduced to any tangible format. The Kenya Copyright Board
offers notifications where although not a legal requirement allows rights
holders to register their works. This helps in the creation of a database as
well as assists in the enforcement of copyright.
It also does not protect symbols, titles, short phrases or factual information
that may be contained in a copyright work.
Copyright applies to any medium. This means that you must not reproduce copyright protected work in another medium without permission. This includes, publishing photographs on the internet, making a sound recording of a book, a painting of a photograph and so on.
Examples of works protected by copyright
Copyright applies to any medium. This means that you must not reproduce copyright protected work in another medium without permission. This includes, publishing photographs on the internet, making a sound recording of a book, a painting of a photograph and so on.
Examples of works protected by copyright
v Dramatic
works, including dance or mime
v Musical
works
v Artistic
works, including paintings, engravings, photographs, sculptures, collages,
architecture, technical drawings, diagrams, maps and logos
v Layouts
or typographical arrangements used to publish a work, for a book for instance
v Recordings
of a work, including sound and film
v Broadcasts
of a work
v Ownership
of copyright
Upcoming musicians need to know how to protect their music through
copyright. In Kenya the copyright board (KECOBO) is a state corporation under
the office of the Attorney General and Department of justice and mandated with
the administration and enforcement of copyright and related rights. The Board
is responsible for organizing legislation on copyright and related rights;
conducting training programmes on copyright and related rights; enlightening
and informing the public on matters related to copyright; licensing and
supervising the activities of collective management societies; and maintaining
an effective databank on authors and their works.
The Kenya Copyright Board is comprised of members drawn from
both the public and private sectors. The
members from the private sector are nominated by associations representing
software, producers of sound recordings, publishers, film distributors,
performers, broadcasting stations, musicians and the audio-visual industry.
There are four experts on copyright and related rights and five members who are
alternates to the Attorney General, Police Inspector General, Permanent
Secretary - Ministry of Information, Permanent Secretary - Ministry of Sports,
Culture and Arts, and the Permanent Secretary - Ministry of Finance.
