Court freezes Skiza, Hello Tune royalties over artists’ pay dispute
This development comes amid a push by artists Justus Ngemu and Saul Esikuri to have ring-back tune earnings sent directly to musicians.
The High Court has temporarily stopped Safaricom and Airtel from remitting ring back tune revenues to collective management organisations, pending the outcome of a legal challenge filed by two Kenyan artists.
The order, issued by Justice John Chigiti, blocks the two telecom companies from paying out royalties earned from Skiza and Hello tunes to the collective management organisations, which have been operating as intermediaries known as Premium Rate Service Providers (PRSPs).
These organisations integrate music into Skiza and Hello Tune platforms and handle royalty distribution to artists.
This development comes amid a push by artists Justus Ngemu and Saul Esikuri to have ring-back tune earnings sent directly to musicians, bypassing the PRSPs.
The musicians have sued the Kenya Copyright Board, the Cabinet Secretary in charge of art and the Attorney General, demanding full implementation of a revised revenue-sharing formula introduced under the Copyright Act amendment of 2022.
The new law raised artists’ share of Skiza and Hello Tune revenues from 16% to 52%.
It also introduced Section 30C, which outlines how earnings from ring-back tunes should be distributed, aiming to ensure more transparent and timely payments to content creators.
Safaricom and Airtel, named as interested parties in the case, operate the Skiza and Hello tune platforms, respectively, where Kenyan music is sold to subscribers for daily rates of Sh1.50 and Sh1.
The court order suspends further revenue remittance to the PRSPs until the legal issues are resolved.
All parties have been directed to file their responses within 14 days, with the case set for mention on July 7, 2025, at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi.
