Parliament recently passed the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2025, triggering debate on social media platforms and other fora as to how the law will benefit creators of intellectual property.
While the bill, which is yet to be assented to by the president, lists actors and other creatives, the major focus was on local musicians who, for years, have complained that their songs are played on radio, television, and in bars without them earning anything.
In about 600 words, here is a simple explanation of the bill to those who might be bored by the legal language like my neighbour in Nansana (we are not talking about ‘neighbouring rights’ here). This story focuses largely on how or whether artists will benefit from the law, which has been there but now has some new amendments.
**********************************************
One of the biggest changes is that artists must now be paid every time their work is used commercially. This includes when a song is played on the radio, shown on TV, or performed in public places like clubs or functions like Kwanjula.
However, the law does not clearly state a fixed amount of money that must be paid each time a song is played. Instead, it says artists should receive what it calls “equitable remuneration”.
In simple terms, this means fair payment, but the exact amount will depend on agreements and systems set by the regulators.
The bill also introduces a structured way of sharing money from caller ring-back tones, which had been a bone of contention between musicians and telecom companies.
Caller ring-back tones are the songs people hear when they call someone, like Kibaluma by Juliana Kanyomozi.
Under the new law, musicians will receive 60% of the revenue, telecom companies will take 31.5%, and other service providers will share 8.5%. However, telecom firms can decide to discontinue the service, meaning the musicians will lose out.
Another important change in the bill is about ownership. The bill makes it clear that the creator of a song, film, or book is the ORIGINAL owner of that work.
Even if they sign a contract giving someone else rights, as some creatives have done, those rights can only last for a maximum of 20 years. After that, ownership returns to the original creator.
This provision is meant to protect young artists who may sign bad deals early in their careers. It ensures they can regain control of their work later.
The bill also tightens rules on contracts. Any agreement involving music or other creative work must now be written down and registered with the government within 60 days. If this is not done, the contract can be cancelled.
To help artists collect their money, the law strengthens collecting societies. These are organisations that gather royalties on behalf of musicians and other creators.
The societies must now be registered, transparent, and accountable. They are officially allowed to collect and distribute royalties to artists.
The bill also cracks down on piracy. People and businesses like video libraries, DJs who illegally copy or share music, films, or books, can face heavy fines or even jail terms of up to 10 years.
Online piracy is also outlawed. Authorities can now order websites or platforms to remove illegal content, and if the platforms refuse, they can be punished.
There are also some rules for the public in the bill. For example, people are only allowed to copy a small part of a book or song for personal use. The law limits copying to 5% of a work within three months unless special permission is given.
The bill also supports people with disabilities. It allows books and other materials to be converted into formats like braille so that visually impaired people can access them more easily.
In simple terms, the new law is trying to do three things: It wants artists to earn money from their work, protect their ownership rights, and stop people from stealing creative content.
That’s it!
