• The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2020, scraps the copyright period of 50 years and vests it in government forever.
• The bill sponsored by nominated ODM Senator Agnes Zani is set for introduction.
Image: FILE
A new senate Bill proposes to vest the National Anthem copyright in government in perpetuity to safeguard it from abuse.
Currently, the law provides that the copyright conferred on a literary, musical, dramatic or artistic work of the government shall expire after 50 years.
The Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2020, scraps the copyright period of 50 years and vests it in government forever. The National Anthem was registered in 1963 at Independence.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of this Act, copyright in the National Anthem and any works or music relating to the National Anthem and eligible for copyright is conferred in perpetuity on the government,” the bill states.
It is sponsored by nominated Senator Agnes Zani (ODM) and is due for introduction for first reading.
“The principal object of this Bill is to amend the Copyright Act, No. 12 of 2001 to ensure that the National Anthem is safeguarded,” it says.
The National Flag, Emblems and Names Act, Cap. 99 Laws of Kenya was enacted in 1963 to, among others, prevent the improper use of the National Flag and of certain emblems, names, words and likenesses for professional and commercial purposes and to prohibit the display of certain flags.
The Copyright Act, No. 12 of 2001 provides for copyright in literary, musical and artistic works, audio-visual works, sound recordings, broadcasts.
Section 25 of that Act provides copyright in works of government and international bodies.
Section 25(2) provides that copyright conferred on a literary, musical, dramatic or artistic work of the Government and international bodies shall subsist until the end of the expiration of 50 years from the end of the year in which it was first published.
But the bill sponsor says the National Anthem maybe subjected to abuse upon the expiry of the period, hence the need to vest its copyright in government in perpetuity.
“The bill, therefore, seeks to amend the Copyright Act, 2001 to safeguard the National Anthem from abuse upon the expiry of 50 years.”
The National Anthem was composed by a five-person commission in 1963 comprising music composers and singers (Professor) Washington Omondi, Reverend Thomas Karume and Graham Hyslop, Peter Kibkosya and Senoga Zake.
Hyslop was a music inspector in the Ministry of Education, Kibkosya a music tutor and Zake a musicologist from Uganda.
The team considered several factors, including holding a competition where several people presented their proposals and thereafter presented its work to the advisory committee.
The final version was presented to the founding President Jomo Kenyatta and the Council of Ministers in August 1963.
- mwaniki fm