Boy band Sauti Sol is unbothered after losing some 2,000 YouTube subscribers.
The four-member band previously had 905,000 subscribers but by Wednesday afternoon, the number had gone down to 903,000.
Reacting to the report, lead singer Bien-Aime Baraza asked those no longer interested in their content to unsubscribe.
“Time will reveal. Wale wanashuka washuke saa hii. Stage yao imefika,” he replied to Nairobi Gossip Club on Instagram.
Read: Confusion As MCSK, KECOBO Issue Conflicting Statements On Sauti Sol-Azimio Copyright Row
In a statement that elicited mixed reactions on Monday evening, the award-winning band threatened to take legal action against Raila Odinga-led Azimio for using their song “Extravaganza” without consent.
“This action is a flagrant disregard of our basic and fundamental rights to property and freedom of association. Through their action, they have taken away the right to own and control what is originally and solely our property and have directly associated us with their campaign without our consent. This is contrary to Article 4 of the Constitution of Kenya,” they wrote.
On Wednesday, however, Music Copyright of Kenya CEO Ezekiel Mutua said the Azimio coalition did not breach any copyright law by using the song.
This contradicted Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) which had earlier stated that Azimio should have sought consent from the original creators of the song. Thus, the use of the sound was a copyright infringement.
Read Also: ODM Responds After Sauti Sol Threatens to Sue Over Use of Extravaganza Song at Azimio Event
“It is in public domain that Azimio has obtained a public performance licence allowing it to play both local and international music at its rallies and events. However, the use of sound recording as soundtrack with visual images in a film, video, television show, commercial or other audio-visual production is not part of those users authorised by a public performance license.
“In this case, synchronised rights are at issue and as such, a synchronised license is needed. A synchronised license can only be issued by the composer and publisher. They have the authority to negotiate and issue a synchronized license,” said Edward Sigei, Kecobo Executive Director.
To this, Sauti Sol said: “In the past few days, there has been a lot of disinformation online and it is clear that majority of people are uninformed about Intellectual property rights.”
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