As write down this, MCSK the body which has always made the headlines for all the wrong reasons has no authority and I mean no authority to collect any CASH on behalf of any artist; in better words, the once powerful body is actually a toothless dog.
And how did that come to be? Come on with me as I narrate to you how it all went down.
As most of you might not be very aware, even artists….MCSK is actually a limited company first before being a body which is now mandated to collect money on behalf of artists. The only difference between it and any other registered company is the fact that they are limited by guarantee technically assuming the role of society.
And for a society to operate, then they must obtain a license from the Kenya Copyright Board which gives them the mandate to collect money on behalf of the public…the money MCSK has previously been accused of embezzling.
The license has to be renewed every year but with a set of conditions. I will not delve with all the conditions but focus on one…which MCSK failed to meet and that is submission of all audited accounts.
Now for them to be operational once more, from 2017 going forth, then they had to submit all the accounts for the financial year 1st July 2015-June 30th 2016 something they failed to do not once but 3 times; I bet for obvious reasons.
In that regard, the legal affairs committee; I mean the big boys at Kenya Copyright board sat down and made the ultimate decision that they were not going to renew MCSK’s license-their lifeline and gateway to all the millions of they collect every month.
As it was revealed to us by our source, MCSK were made aware of the predicament about to hit them as early as Tuesday and it was now all a matter of time. And yesterday, Thursday, 16th Feb 2017, the ultimate decision was made and right there and then MCSK’s powers went with the wind. So starting today, Friday 17th Feb MCSK is not mandated to pick a single coin on behalf of any artist.
And the funny thing is that they are aware of what is going to hit them as they have not received the official communication yet. We however spoke to the CEO, Merit Simiyu and according to him, he knew this was going to hit them but he’s very categorical that the Kenya Copyright Board’s decision to not renew their license is totally unfair as they had previously submitted a set of legitimate reasons why that was not possible something Kenya Copyright Board chose to ignore. They were a myriad of reasons but the most crucial one according to Simiyu was a failed accounting system.
And what would MCSK do now since this misfortune has befallen them, well…they will be going to court to block the decision…#sigh# like are you even surprised?
Keep it here for more on the scoop.