Digital pay TV provider Wananchi Group Ltd, trading as Zuku, has been slapped with a Sh7.2 million fine for broadcasting a popular show without the author’s consent.
The Copyright Tribunal found the company was guilty of copyright infringement for airing the film Pwagu without the consent of Kadi Media and Diana Mbogo.
The company was ordered to compensate Kadi Media Sh2.21 million as special damages and a further Sh5 million as general damages.
“We find that it is not in dispute that the respondent (Wananchi Group Ltd) exercised a right exclusive to the 1st claimant (Kadi Media) by broadcasting to the public the film Pwagu,” said the tribunal.
The tribunal, chaired by Elizabeth Lenjo, found that Wananchi Group did not have any authorisation from the owner to air the film.
Wananchi Group had defended itself saying it had an agreement with a third party, Sparks Corporate Solutions, that claimed to own the rights to the film.
But, the tribunal ruled that, where a party claims to have acquired rights through assignment, they must produce a licence or assignment duly registered with the Kenya Copyright Board.
According to the tribunal, being a seasoned broadcaster with regard to Kenyan audio-visual works, Wananchi Group should have conducted due diligence before broadcasting the film.
“The respondent is expected to know that where a party claims to own any copyright to an audio-visual work, then such a party must have the requisite registration documents from the Kenya Copyright Board and the Kenya Film and Classification Board,” said the tribunal.
Through lawyer Duncan Anzala, Kadi Media accused Wananchi Group of infringing its copyright by airing the film last year.
The company admitted to airing the film, claiming to have acquired the content legitimately from Sparks Corporate Solutions Limited.
The company submitted that it later removed the content from its platforms, in good faith, pending the determination of the case.
Wananchi Group added that it acquires content through a request for quotation process to all local content producers in Kenya and Tanzania.
The company said it entered into an agreement with Sparks Corporate Solutions on January 23, 2024, for the provision of 800 movies and 300 series.
An award letter dated January 15, 2025, was issued to Sparks Corporate Solutions for content acquisition and the latter provided a list of content to be supplied, and which included Pwagu.
Wananchi Group added that it carried out the necessary due diligence and had the rights to distribute the content.
“The claimants have demonstrated that they created the subject work and that the 1st claimant obtained a Certificate of Registration of a Copyright Work for Literary Works from the Kenya Copyright Board for the script,” the tribunal said.
The tribunal added that Kadi Media also obtained a certificate of approval of film from the Kenya Film and Classification Board.
The tribunal said under Section 26 of the Act, proprietary right includes the exclusive right to control the distribution to the public of the work by way of sale, rental, lease, hire, loan, importation or similar arrangement, the communication to the public of the whole work or a substantial part of it, either in its original form or in any form.
“We therefore find and hold that copyright in the subject literary and audio-visual work reposed in “Pwagu” lawfully vests in the 1st claimant,” the tribunal ruled.
