Caroline Kimeu, Wall Street Journal; Orchestra Locks Horns With Copyright Cops Over Works by Long-Dead Composers
"The Nairobi Orchestra walked on stage for a recent afternoon concert ready to perform a demanding selection of pieces, including Hector Berlioz’s moody 1830 “Symphonie Fantastique.” But conductor Levi Wataka was nowhere to be found.
The musicians sat awkwardly as the minutes ticked by. Audience members talked among themselves. Some wondered whether he had forgotten he had a concert to conduct or had ripped his trousers.
A viola player eventually wandered out of the auditorium and returned offering an apology for the unexplained holdup: Wataka was locked in a tense exchange in the lobby with officers from the Performing and Audio Visual Rights Society of Kenya, who were demanding the orchestra pay royalties for performing pieces by classical composers long in the public domain.
And they had brought along some police officers for back up."
