Two Nairobi residents have been charged with copyright infringement after police accused them of circulating pirated digital editions of local newspapers.
Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) said the pair were picked up during an early-morning raid on August 25 that it conducted alongside Nation Media Group PLC and officers from the National Police Service.
“In collaboration with Nation Media Group PLC and the National Police Service, we conducted a raid that led to the arrest of two individuals involved in the illegal distribution of digital newspapers,” KECOBO noted in a statement.
The suspects were arraigned the same day at the Milimani Law Courts. Each was offered a cash bail of KSh100,000 or an alternative bond of KSh500,000 while the case proceeds.
If found guilty, they face fines, jail terms or both under the Copyright Act.
https://x.com/KenyaCopyright/status/1959958889383792669
KECOBO reminded readers that the law bars unauthorised reproduction, distribution or sharing of any protected work, including e-papers.
Offenders, it warned, “risk arrest, prosecution, heavy fines, or imprisonment.”
The copyright arrests came less than a week after the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) detained nine people in Eastleigh for running unlicensed parcel and courier services.
That operation, also conducted with the police, targeted firms working without permits under Section 49 of the Kenya Information and Communications Act of 1998.
Enterprises flagged included Al-Safa Parcel Services, Falcon Fastforward, Turkana Parcel Services, Ramadhan Parcel, Skyway Centre, Sharks Solution Parcel Services and Rahma Bus Services Limited.
As for content piracy, KECOBO says it will continue monitoring online channels for similar offences and has asked publishers to report suspicious links promptly.
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