The Sports Rights Owner Coalition (SROC) has voiced its opposition to the Copyright Amendment Bill now being debated in Parliament.
The SROC addressed the government through an open letter expressing its concern regarding the Copyright Amendment Bill currently before Parliament.
Kenya’s 2019 Copyright Amendment Bill incorporates principles from the World Intellectual Property Organisation Internet Treaties of 1996, aimed at preventing unauthorised access to and use of creative works.
Proposals to remove sections 35B, 35C and 35D of the Copyright Act, which now allows for takedown notices to be given to internet-based service provider platforms that enable content piracy, are particularly concerning to the SROC.
The SROC and its supporters also claimed that removing section 35 of the Copyright Act will jeopardise Kenya’s capacity to renew its participation in the Africa Growth and Opportunity Agreement (AGOA), as one of the renewal requirements is a demonstrated commitment to copyright protection.
The SROC also points out that policymakers in Europe are enhancing rather than reducing the effectiveness of take-down notices, notably in the case of live content.
In the first half of 2022, new ideas to better protect live content in Europe are expected.
“Rights holders from sport and other creative industries are extremely unlikely to license their content in a jurisdiction that effectively legitimise piracy.
Consumers would, therefore, be deprived from watching their favourite sports and television shows, and leave Kenya isolated on the global copyright stage,” the Kenya Copyright Board (KeCOBO) has backed the SROC letter.
(European Leagues) chastised the EU Parliament, claiming that its recent plenary decision on the Digital Services Act did not go far enough to answer sports rights holders’ urgent concerns to combat digital piracy.
The EU Parliament’s vote last year to develop new regulations to remove all pirated sports content within 30 minutes spurred European Leagues, as well as other sports bodies, broadcasters and rights sellers.
European Leagues, on the other hand, urged EU co-legislators to reject an item, 14.3.a), introduced at the “last minute” to make the DSA “suitable for live content”.
“Across the world, they help to safeguard the intellectual property rights of sports rights owners. If rights owners cannot request that pirated sports content is taken down immediately, that will threaten the future of live sports broadcasts in Kenya.
Why would international sports media allow sports broadcasts in Kenya, if they have no way of stopping them from being pirated?” Earlier this month, the Association of European Professional Football Leagues said.
