NONINI ACCUSES TOP ELECTRONICS COMPANY OF USING HIS HIT SONG ‘WE KAMU’ WITHOUT PERMISSION

Veteran Kenyan musician Nonini has accused Japanese electronics company Syinix Electronics of using his song in an advertisement without his permission.

According to Nonini, the electronics company used his song We Kamu to advertise their new flat screen TV the U51 series. “A synchronization license is required no matter how small a portion of the song you use especially for commercial purposes. If a song is synced on a video you will need to pay the composer of the song no matter how small the portion of the composition is used.

Music rightsholders 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,” said Nonini.

In a statement released by his lawyer Katee David, he said, on April 30 this year, Syinix Electronics social media influencer Brian Mutinda created a short video to market their products and he posted it on his Instagram page and on his verified Facebook page. 

“It is from the above foregoing that we have been instructed to demand the following; immediately pull down the videos from your social media pages. Issue a public apology in the same magnitude to our client and the same is to be posted on both Syinix Electronics Facebook page. Both parties to admit liability within the next 7 days,” read the statement.

Syinix denied creating the video involved in copyright infringement, “We have been instructed to address you as we do herein. That our client denies creating any video in infringement of your client’s copyright. That if at all our client posted any purportedly infringing video on its social media page then do note that at all material times it was not aware and had no reasonable grounds for suspecting subsistence of copyright to the said video.

That the above notwithstanding and without admission of any liability and on a without prejudice basis, our client is interested in discussing with yours the possibility of your client issuing ours with a synchronization license in respect of the song in question and we that we shall appreciate knowing your client’s position on the same.”