caramesin.com – Copyright board issues warning after viral meme of Kenyan comedian Marindich,The government has warned companies against using memes created from photos and videos without permission from the creators of the original content.
In a statement on Friday, August 5, 2022, the Kenya Copyright Board (KECOBO) said commercial use of the content constitutes copyright infringement and may give rise to civil liability.
KECOBO has reacted to a viral meme created from a video of two comedians, Arap Marindich and Tula Chemoget impersonating World Rally Championship (WRC) drivers at the Safari Rally in Naivasha.
“Memes are used by both individuals and corporations, which raises a lot of copyright concerns,” KECOBO said.
“The copyright owner has exclusive rights to copy, reproduce, edit, publish and broadcast his work for a certain period of time set by copyright law. “In this regard, a copyright owner can create a meme from their photo or video to exercise their copyright. Such memes can be used to benefit the author through advertising and as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).”
The council insisted that those intending to use such works for commercial purposes must obtain express permission from the creators.
“Therefore, a meme created without the permission of the copyright owner is a violation of their copyright, especially the exclusive rights to copy, reproduce, edit and publish, because the original photo or video has some modification and the inclusion of text persists,” KECOBO added.
“While the use of memes on social media is permitted, creating and using them for commercial purposes attracts significant civil liability and should be removed from the creators.”
The board advises companies to do their due diligence before using employment for money.
“It should be noted that in some cases, content used to create memes may be in the public domain or released under a Creative Commons license,” the board said. “That’s why corporations should consider doing their due diligence on the status of photos or videos before being tempted to join the fun.”
Arap Marindich has become an internet sensation
The viral video of Arap Marindich, whose real name is Kennedy Kipkorir Lang’at, was filmed in June.
In the video, the dusty comedian is heard explaining how intense and exciting the Safari rally was due to the poor terrain.
“The race was fun, but unfortunately we were in the woods, look at these branches stuck in our car, we almost flipped over. What we saw were white drivers going past us in the woods,” said Marindich.
The no less funny Tula acts as the funny man’s navigator in the clip. Hundreds of memes were created from the clip, which were widely shared in other African and European countries.
