The Kenya Copyright and Related Rights Bill, 2026 | TLA Legislative Watch

The Kenya Copyright and Related Rights Bill 2026 – A Digital Generation, A New Copyright Order

Introduction

On 10 March 2026, the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) published the proposed Kenya Copyright and Related Rights Bill 2026 for public comments. The Bill is the most significant overhaul of Kenya’s copyright framework since the Copyright Act of 2001. The proposed legislation seeks to repeal the 2001 Act in its entirety and replace it with a digital-first regime aligned with Kenya’s constitutional order and development objectives.

The public participation stage by the KECOBO lapsed on 31 March 2026.

Legal Framework – Kenya Copyright and Related Rights Bill 2026

The Bill represents the most significant overhaul of Kenya’s copyright framework since the Copyright Act of 2001, seeking to repeal it in its entirety and replace it with a digital-first regime. It would reconstitute KECOBO as the Kenya Copyright Authority, a body corporate with administrative enforcement powers, and introduce a comprehensive framework covering safe harbours, piracy, collective rights management, and new categories of creative work.

Key Provisions Introduced

• Digital Safe Harbours: Online intermediaries that implement a valid takedown-notice system and enforce repeat-infringer policies qualify for liability protection over third-party infringing content.
• Artist’s Resale Right: Visual artists receive an inalienable right to a minimum 5% share of proceeds on the commercial resale of their works, a right that cannot be contracted away.
• Institutional Upgrade: KECOBO is to be reconstituted as the Kenya Copyright Authority, a body corporate with powers to impose administrative fines, conduct premises searches, and impose fees on rights registration and regulate CMOs.
• CMO Accountability: CMOs must use Authority-approved digital royalty systems, distribute collected royalties within six months, and publish audited annual financial statements.
• Site Blocking and Live Piracy: Courts may issue urgent orders requiring ISPs to block domains distributing infringing content, with specific provisions targeting real-time piracy of sports events and live broadcasts.
• Private Copying Levy: A remuneration levy is imposed on devices (phones, laptops) and digital platforms capable of reproducing works for private use, creating a new revenue stream for rights holders.
• Statutory Damages and Penalties: Courts may award between KSh 200,000 and KSh 1.5 million in lieu of proven loss. Criminal penalties for first-time piracy reach fines up to five times market value or seven years’ imprisonment.
• Exceptions and Limitations: The Bill modernises fair dealing rules and introduces specific allowances for text-and-data mining in non-commercial research, accessible format reproduction for persons with disabilities, and a licensing pathway for orphan works.

Who Is Affected by the Kenya Copyright and Related Rights Bill 2026

The Bill has direct implications for a wide range of public and private actors:

1. Content creators, musicians, visual artists, photographers, filmmakers, and performing artists
2. Online platforms, internet service providers, and digital streaming services operating in or serving Kenyan users
3. Broadcasters and rights holders whose content is vulnerable to live-event piracy
4. Fintech and mobile money operators whose payment rails may be used in royalty distribution
5. Artificial intelligence developers and companies whose tools are trained on or generate copyrighted content
6. Individuals whose likeness, image, or biometric data may be captured and commercially exploited
7. Collective Management Organisations (CMOs) currently distributing royalties to rights holders

Key Gaps and Legal Risks

Notwithstanding its progressive elements, the Bill contains omissions that create significant legal uncertainty for businesses and individuals operating in the digital economy.

• Silence on Artificial Intelligence Authorship: The Bill does not address AI-generated works, AI-assisted creativity, or the use of existing copyright works to train machine learning models. Kenyan copyright law is premised on human authorship; the Bill leaves entirely unresolved whether AI-generated content is protectable and who holds any resulting rights.
• No Image Rights or Likeness Protections: The Bill grants photographers exclusive rights over their works but says nothing about the individual whose likeness is captured within those works. This creates a structural conflict: Clause 54 permits perpetual, worldwide assignment of copyright, yet Section 32 of the Data Protection Act, 2019 allows a data subject to withdraw consent to the use of their image at any time. The Bill does not resolve which regime prevails when these rights collide.
• Unresolved Tension with the Data Protection Act, 2019: A photograph of a human being is simultaneously a copyright work (belonging to the photographer) and personal data (belonging to the subject). The Bill is silent on how these interests interact. When a photographer licenses an image to a brand, the scope of what is transferred (the composition, the identity or both) remains legally unclear. Courts will be asked to resolve, without statutory guidance, whether a property right in the image outweighs a personhood right in the face it depicts. This is a foreseeable and avoidable source of litigation.

Regulatory Outlook

The Bill represents a genuine and overdue modernisation of Kenya’s intellectual property framework. The introduction of site-blocking powers, safe harbour protections, and CMO accountability measures reflects growing alignment with established regimes in the United States, the European Union, and comparable African markets. The elevation of KECOBO to a body corporate with administrative penalty powers signals that enforcement, long a weak point of the existing regime, will be taken more seriously going forward.

That said, the omissions on artificial intelligence and image rights are not minor technicalities and are foundational questions that courts will be left to resolve through common law development, constitutional interpretation, and the conflict between the new copyright regime and existing data protection obligations as well as the resultant AI Act.

Recommended Next Steps

1. Audit current copyright exposures: Review existing content licensing arrangements, platform terms of service, and commercial agreements that reference or rely on copyright ownership. Identify any exposure arising from AI-generated content, the use of third-party images, or arrangements with CMOs.
2. Review platform and intermediary obligations: Online platforms and ISPs should assess readiness to implement compliant takedown-notice and repeat-infringer policies as a precondition for safe harbour protection. Those without these systems currently face significant exposure once the Bill is commenced.
3. Assess image and data protection alignment: Any business whose operations involve the capture, licensing, or commercial use of images of identifiable individuals should obtain legal advice on how the proposed copyright regime interacts with its existing obligations under the Data Protection Act, 2019, and Article 31 of the Constitution.
4. Monitor for AI and image rights developments: Stakeholders in the technology, media, and creative sectors should track the Bill’s progress through Parliament and engage with any subsidiary regulations or guidelines that KECOBO issues should it be constituted as the Kenya Copyright Authority.

Conclusion

The Copyright and Related Rights Bill, 2026 is a consequential piece of legislation for Kenya’s creative and digital economy. Content creators, platform operators, technology businesses, and any individual or organisation whose work touches on copyright ownership, image rights, or AI-generated content should not wait for the Bill to be enacted to understand their exposure. The gaps identified in this alert are not abstract legal questions; they are live commercial risks that will require proactive legal positioning.

Kenya’s intellectual property landscape is changing, and the pace of that change will only accelerate as artificial intelligence and digital commerce continue to reshape how creative works are produced, distributed, and monetised. TLA will continue to monitor the Bill’s progress through Parliament and stands ready to advise clients on what the evolving framework means for their specific circumstances.

Disclaimer: This publication is prepared by Thomas Louis Advocates for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The views and analysis contained herein are general in nature and are not a substitute for advice tailored to your specific facts and circumstances. Thomas Louis Advocates accepts no liability arising from reliance on the contents of this publication. If you have a specific legal question or concern, we encourage you to seek counsel from a qualified legal practitioner.