Did Chris Brown steal picture from Kenyan photographer?
American singer Chris Brown pulled down a copyrighted picture that was taken by a Kenyan photographer after he shared he two similar pictures on line and complained that the singer had used it without his permission.
Photographer Michael Khateli claimed that the singer lifted his black and white photo taken while the singer was on stage performing at a concert in Mombasa last weekend at a concert dubbed Mombasa Rocks.
The picture shows the singer holding a microphone while on stage with his head bowed at a pensive mood.
The photographer wondered why the singer used his picture without permission and even went further to remove his watermark before sharing it with his millions of followers on his Twitter page.
Copyright infringement, which gives rise to civil liability, includes the exercise of the exclusive rights granted under Section 26 of Cap 130 as well as the importation of the copyright works or the rights granted under section 30 in relation to performers or circumvents the effective technological measures or rights management information without the authority of the rights holder.
In Kenya, photographs are protected as works under the Copyright Act.
The copyright owner has the exclusive rights to control reproduce, distribute, communicate to the public, sell, or even broadcast the photographs. The protection is same as that granted to all other copyright works.
The owner of the copyright in a photograph is the person who takes the photo or under whose direction is taken.
