On Friday, March 24th, 2023 Kenyan Rapper Nonini won big in a copyright infringement suit.
The win against Japanese Electronics company Synix Electronics’ and content creator Brian Mutinda saw the Rapper awarded KES 1 Million.
Synix Electronics and Brian Mutinda Copyright Infringement.
In 2022 ‘Syinix Electronics’ used Nonini’s song ‘WeKamu’ in an advert to push their product without the rapper’s permission.
The ‘Manzi wa Nairobi’ hitmaker who took to Twitter to express his disapproval of the advert with his artwork wrote,
“Syinix Electronics decided to do a very brilliant advert using my song WeKamu.
The only problem is they didn’t ask for permission” He wrote on Twitter
Nonini took the matter to Court to demand the advert be pulled down, and for the defendants to admit they were wrong and apologize.
“Copyright shall be respected.” He noted.
Nonini Reaction to winning Copyright Infringement Suit “Hope most Musicians follow the lead”
Nonini’s Lawyer David Katee revealed the defendants have been ordered to remove the infringing content from all of their platforms, pay the cost of the suit, and pay interest at the court’s rate.
After the ruling, Nonini took to Twitter urging other artists to follow his lead.
“Hope most musicians follow the lead.
Make sure you copyright your material and get them split sheet’s done. It’s important.” He wrote.
Nonini urged music rights holders to take legal action against any form of infringement, revealing he has several copyright infringement cases that are ongoing.
“Music rights holders know how to defend their rights, and not having a sync license puts your company at Risk.
The music industry earns its revenue from copyrights and so music rights holders please take legal action against any form of infringement.” He wrote.
