Conventional wisdom would require of me to not comment on an ongoing court case in which the radio station I am the proud owner of stands accused, alongside others, of copyright infringement;
I will however, do otherwise and share with the public a few thoughts I deem necessary to consider while making up your own mind on the issue at hand.
My thoughts go more towards contributing to what has now become a public debate, in hopes of shedding some light on the current state of our creative industry.
There was a time in this country when the only way to listen to the likes of Cecile Kayirebwa was on to tune in to the Short Waves dial of Radio Muhabura.
For most people living in Rwanda prior to the genocide, the name rang familiar but the work remained virtually unknown and banned from the airwaves, alongside others living in exile.
It was not until the post-genocide renaissance era that most people became privy to her body of work, thanks to ORINFOR; they deserve full credit for rehabilitate many of our previously shunned musical icons.
A new momentum was to be created for our local creative industry, further down the road, by the advent of private radio broadcasting. New talents saw in this development an appropriate venue to showcase their work and make a name for themselves; unfortunately, they were only but a few.
Local content available on the market at that time hardly reached 20% of their airtime of local radios; the biggest chunk went to regional acts from East Africa who greatly benefitted from this new market.
Yet everyone agreed that the time had come for local artists to shine; that’s when some of us, media owners, decided to go a step further by producing local content through talented youths such as KGB, Miss Jojo, Rafiki, Kitoko, and the list goes on…
young would-be producers saw the potential, grabbed the baton and made a run for it… greatly contributing to what is today a reason for us all to celebrate: quasi-total local content on the airwaves!!!
This was by all accounts a win-win situation for both local media and local talents alike; local media gained in local content while artists received extensive free promotion they could have never dreamed of getting otherwise.
Some would argue that the move from local media was anything but selfless; up until that time, the lack of local content had not made local media outlets any less popular, quite the contrary! But the industry, already practically non-existent, would have suffered from it a great deal.
The reality is that Rwandan media was committed to promote the local creative minds and become a proactive stakeholder; nothing sophisticated, just plain and simple promotional airplay at this stage of the game!
Artists need exposure, promotion and recognition for their work, no argument there. And indeed they got, free of charge, courtesy of local radio stations.
The word was out, the buzz created; going above and beyond the call of duty, local media gave them the full logistical support of production and broadcasting of adverts promoting their concerts and performance.
Artists were hosted in the most popular shows and given the star treatment they deserved.
Strong of their newfound status, they soon became hot commodities for the most powerful brands on the market like the telecoms and the breweries; their music is now used for ring tones, advertisement and a multitude of other opportunities, creating sources of revenue never before earned in the local music scene.
This, I argue, would have never happened without the media. This is equally true for the new talents as it is for local veteran artists such as Rugamba Cyprien, Sentore, Florida Uwera, Imitali & Muyango, Kabalira, Rujindiri and many others including Kayirebwa, who ran the risk of being forgotten by the younger generations.
Paying tribute to them by playing their music has been our small contribution in keeping their musical legacies alive.
Which now brings me to the issue of the law on copyright and intellectual property; the move was unprecedented and much needed, and we welcomed it with open arms.
It is of course a first step towards the future refinement of show business in Rwanda. At this first stage, it serves in the fight against piracy.
But when it comes to royalties for public sharing of artistic material, it becomes another ballgame.
In the “developed” world, there’s an all-inclusive system that permits all stakeholders to be part of the process.
You have organizations representing the intellectual property owners, you have the media and associates, and you have distributors and more … a well-oiled machine tried, tested and true.
It is against such a backdrop that agreements can be made about fees, royalties, editing, publishing, distribution, and so on… everyone needs to be accounted for every step of the way.
Record companies have multiple agreements with multiple actors worldwide; in other words it is not just about having a law protecting intellectual properties, it is about how one can use it to build a system that will generate trade and thus revenue for all stakeholders.
The bigger picture is in fact a HUMONGOUS one! Imagine any public space that uses music, image … they all need to be accounted for: discos, barbershops, restaurants, hotels, public transport, events, Internet … the list is endless.
Back to our case; most artists working with the media do appreciate the support of free advertisement for their work and actually wish they could be more in the media.
According to Igihe.com, Kayirebwa’s lawyer claimed that his client has undergone financial loss as a result of what she calls the unauthorized use of her music, negatively impacting her record sales.
Such defamation towards those who did nothing but help her make a name for herself can only be matched with outrage and dismay.
Who amongst us hasn’t seen the video clips of many of her greatest songs on Rwanda Television over the years; well, I’ll have you know that those were made free of charge by the same broadcaster she now seeks ‘reparations’ from the most! One can only assume that she has been ill-advised.
When she needed help promoting her performances and music, she knew exactly how to reach us; should she have wanted to stop our fruitful collaboration, she could have used the same channels of communication.
Instead she has chosen the rocky road of confrontation and litigation. Yet we are not bitter, we just want to be better.
The media helped and contributed in the further buildup of her carrier, but we didn’t make her; there will therefore be no attempts to break her!
Unfortunately, her absence from the airwaves will be a great loss to her, her musical legacy, and the throngs of fans she has acquired over the years thanks to her ‘friends’ in the media.
I truly wish it to be otherwise.
