Bamboo yet to receive Sh4.5 million awarded by court in 2023 against Safaricom in IP case
Former hip-hop rapper and businessman Simon Kimani, aka Bamboo, has yet to receive the Sh4.5 million the High Court awarded him in 2023.
Bamboo was awarded the amount in a copyright infringement case after a nine-year legal battle against Safaricom and the other two companies. He accused Safaricom the main defendant of selling three of his songs on its callback platform, Skiza Tune, without compensating him.
In a 36-page judgment, Justice Asenath Nyaboke Ongeri awarded the Usilete Compe hitmaker Sh4.5 million as general damages for unauthorized use of his three songs Mama Africa, released in 2005, which features American record producer and singer Akon.
The other songs were Yes Indeed, also released in 2005, and Move One, released in 2012, which features former top charting hip-hop group Camp Mulla.
But even with the win, Bamboo will have to wait longer to see if he will get the money after the defendants filed an appeal against the ruling.
However, they were first ordered to deposit the Sh4.5 million with the courts pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
“Yes, they appealed, but the money was first deposited in an interest-bearing account. The only person who did not pay was Bernsoft.” Bamboo told Nairobi News.
Bamboo first went to court in December 2015 and filed a civil suit against Safaricom and two premium rate service providers (PRSPs), Bensoft Interactive Limited, owned by software engineer and music distributor Bernard Kioko, and Mtech Communication Limited.
He accused the three companies of using his intellectual property without his consent to generate revenue while he was left on the fringe.
The two PRSPs had argued in court that they had been authorized by the Music Copyright Society of Kenya (MCSK) to supply the aforementioned three songs to Skiza Tunes which Bamboo was its member.
However, the MCSK admitted to making a mistake when Bamboo raised the matter and proved he had no bidding agreement with MCSK to distribute his songs to any party and compensated by paying him Sh600,000.
Should Safaricom lose the appeal, Bamboo will walk away with more than the initial Sh4.5 million based on the accrued interest.