• The Presidential Strategic Communication Unit confirmed through a press release on September 18 that the president assented to the bill
Image: PSCU
A Facebook post claiming that President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed the Copyright (Amendment) 2019 Bill into law is TRUE.
The post further adds that the law aims to address concerns about intellectual property rights, collection of licencing fees and the disbursement of royalties to copyright owners.
The bill amends the Copyright Act of 2001, and was introduced in Parliament in 2017 to address concerns over royalty rights in the country, especially the collection and disbursement of fees and dues to copyright holders.
The bill was passed by the National Assembly, with amendments, on July 25, 2018.
A post on the website of the Presidency as well as a tweet posted on September 18 by State House Kenya indicates that President Kenyatta signed two bills into law — the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2019 and the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2019.
President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law two Bills among them the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, 2019. At the brief signing ceremony witnessed by Deputy President @WilliamsRuto, the President also appended his signature on the Copyright (Amendment) Bill, 2019. pic.twitter.com/reY2FmZtIt
— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) September 18, 2019
The Copyright Act established the Kenya Copyright Board as a State Corporation, and provides protection for musical, literary, artistic and audiovisual works.
PesaCheck has looked into the claim that President Kenyatta has signed the Copyright (Amendment) 2019 Bill into law and finds it to be TRUE.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Researcher James Okong’o, was edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Ann Ngengere and was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi.