Tuesday, May 21, 2024 – The government of President William Ruto has moved to make the lives of Kenyans even more difficult despite burdening us with heavy taxes.
This is after the government,
through the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO), informed restaurant owners that
they needed a licence to be able to play music on their business
premises.
According to KECOBO, restaurant
owners should apply for business licenses through Collective Management
Organizations (CMOs).
Restaurant owners need to make
their application through the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) which is
a CMO representing authors, composers, and publishers of musical works.
According to KECOBO, playing
music on business premises without a CMO licence, the offender shall be liable
to pay a fine not exceeding Ksh500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not
exceeding four years or both.
According to MCSK, the licence
covers the performances of music and audiovisual works provided by means of
radio receiving sets, disc players, tape machines, video cassette players,
television, and similar devices including digitized music, as background
performances in all the commonly controlled areas of restaurants, cafes, bars,
casinos and other similar food, gaming and liquor retailing
establishments.
To calculate the amount of cash
each hotel must pay, KECOBO takes into account the percentage of the sum of the
cost of a single business permit and the cost of a liquor licence or percentage
of a single business permit alone in the absence of the liquor licence, subject
to a minimum flat rate.
As such, hotels in Kenya pay 80
per cent of the sum of the cost of a single business permit and the liquor
license.
Where there is no liquor
license, the restaurant will pay 100 per cent of the cost of a single business
permit.
According to MCSK, the amount
paid should not be less than Ksh9,000 per annum which is the agreed
minimum flat rate.
The amounts collected are
distributed to musicians annually by MCSK.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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