Private prosecution of copyright infringements in Kenya: A comment on Albert Gacheru Kiarie t/a Wamaitu Productions v James Maina Munene & 7 others [2016] EKLR 1

• Published date: 24 May 2019
• Citation: (2017) IPLJ 172
• Author: Mujuzi, J.D.
• Date: 24 May 2019
• Pages: 172-187

PRIVATE PROSECUTION OF

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS IN

KENYA: A COMMENT ON ALBERT

GACHERU KIARIE T/A WAMAITU

PRODUCTIONS V JAMES MAINA

MUNENE & 7 OTHERS [2016] EKLR 1

†

 

Professor of Law, Faculty o f Law, University of the Western Cape

  

The Kenyan Copyright Act1 (the Copyright Act) creates dif ferent offences

relating to the inf ringement of copyright.2 It should be mentioned at the outset

that apart fr om the criminalisation of copyright in fringements, the Copyright

Act also provides for civil sanctions such as da mages,3 injun ctions 4 and

delivery up.5 A discussion of the civil sanctions falls outside the scope of this

    

one hundred thousand sh illings6 to imprisonment for a ter m not exceeding ten

years or both.7

An offence under the Copyr ight Act has to be prosecuted either b efore the

  8 Section 43(1) of the Copyright

Act empowers the Attorney Gene ral to ‘appoint public prosecutors for the

          

there have been cases where public prosecut ors have prosecuted people for

copyright inf ringement. Apar t from public prosecutors, however, copyright

infringeme nt may also be prosecuted by private prose cutors. Private

† I wrote this a rticle when I was a vi siting researc her at the Depar tment of Law, Faculty of Busin ess

and Sustain able Development, University of Seychel les, Victorian, Mahe, Seychel les, in April/

May 2017. I am grateful to Dr Just in Valentin, the Dean, a nd to Dr Marco Rizz i for hosting me.

    

1 C hapter 130 of the Copyright Act 12 of 20 01 (the Copyright Act).

          James

Irungu Manye ki v Republic [2000] eKLR 1 3, the Cou rt observed that this def inition ‘is most

      

3 Se ction 34 of the Copyright Ac t.

4 Se ction 35(4)(a) of the Copyrig ht Act.

5 Se ction 35(4)(b) of the Copyright Act.

6 As at August 2017 this was th e equivalent of US$ 963: see http://w ww.xe.com/currenc yconverter/

convert/?Amo unt=100000&From=KES&To=USD (access ed on 1 August 2017).

7 Se ction 38(4)–(7) of the Copyr ight Act.

8 Se ction 38(9)(b) of the Copyright Act.

172

(2017) IPLJ 172

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prosecutions are provided for under s 88 of the Cr iminal Proce dure Code,9

which provides as follows:

(1) A Magistrate try ing a case may perm it the prosecution to be c onducted by any person , but

    

the Director of P ublic Prosecution s in this behalf s hall be entitled to do s o without perm ission.

 

as is provided by s 87, and the prov isions of that section s hall apply to withd rawal by that



(3) Any person conducti ng the prosecution may do so pe rsonally or by an advocate.

In Albert Gache ru Kiarie T/A Wamaitu Productions v James Maina Munene

& 7 others,10 a private prosecution was inst ituted for copyright in fringement

    

that are likely to impact on t he ability of copyright owners to institute p rivate

prosecutions where they allege that t heir copyrights have been infri nged. The

purpose of this pap er is to analyse those pri nciples and demonstrate how the

decision has strengthe ned private prosecution as one of the mea ns to enforce

copyright. The author wi ll start by ana lysing the legislation and case law

relating to copyright i n Kenya.

    

Unlike the constitut ions of some African countries su ch as, Angola,11 Liberia,12

Nigeria13 and Sudan,14 15

the Kenyan Constitution doe s not refer to copyright. Ar ticle 11(2)(c) of the

Kenyan Constitution provides th at ‘[t]he State shall promote the intellect ual

  

Constitution provides that ‘[t]he State shall support , promote and protect the

  James Irungu Manyek i

v Republic16   

 

works i.e. by which one has exerted his/her i ntellect be protected. Such

original works should not be exploited by others without t he authority of the

17 Although the Kenyan Constitution does not expressly mention

the protection of copyright, i n Michael Branham Katana t/a Harsutak Ba r

9 Chapter 75 of the Cr iminal Pro cedure Code of t he Law of Kenya 1930. Article 157(6) of the

Constitut ion of Kenya 2010 (the Kenyan Constit ution) and s 5 of the Office of the Dire ctor of

Public Prosec utions Act 2 of 2013 provide for circu mstances i n which the Dire ctor of Public

Prosecution s (DPP) may take over a private pro secution.

10 Albert Gac heru Kiarie T/A Wamaitu Pro ductions v Jam es Maina Munene & 7 o thers [2016 ]

eKL R 1.

11 Article 43(2) of the Constit ution of Angola 2010.

12 Article 15(E) of the Constit ution of Liberia 1986.

13 Article 251(1)(f) of the Cons titution of Nigeria 1999.

14 Schedule A item 23 of the Con stitution of the Suda n 2005.

15 See, for example, the Const itution of Angola 2010.

16 James Iru ngu Manyeki (n 2).

17 James Ir ungu Manyeki (n 2) 2.

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