A content creator has accused KTN of stealing and airing a show he pitched to them without his consent or license. Evans Wamwoyo Wafula said the station is infringing on his copyright by airing the programme dubbed ‘The Diplomat’
Wafula said he had registered the show with the Kenya Copyright Board, giving him ownership of the copyrights of an audiovisual programme going by the name ‘The Diplomatic Front’
Wafula pitched the show idea to KTN in October 2019. The ‘Diplomatic Front’ was to feature diplomats promoting various investment opportunities in the countries they are in. The idea was to assist Kenyans tap into the opportunities while strengthening diplomatic relations.
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“The media house accepted the proposal and the thematic areas of the show were mutually agreed upon as covering diplomatic policy, agriculture, trade, culture, foreign policy, education, import and export opportunities,” he says.
After a successful pitch, Wafula was asked to record the pilot. He went ahead and filmed the pilot on December 2, 2019 with the first guest as the then Somali Ambassador Ali Mohamed Sheekh.
After the pilot, the parties made plans to start rolling out the programme.
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Two years later, Wafula was shocked to learn that KTN had changed the show’s name to ‘The Diplomat’ and was airing it as a segment of it ‘Bottomline Africa’ show.
“The media house’s modification of the name of my show was done without my knowledge or prior consent and in blatant disregard of my rights as the owner of the copyright,” he says.
Wafula is seeking to have KTN barred from continuing broadcast of the show as it infringes on his rights.
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