Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party has responded to boy band Sauti Sol who threatened to sue Azimio la Umoja coalition for alleged copyright infringement during yesterday’s KICC event where Raila Odinga unveiled Martha Karua as his running mate.
The party now says the coalition played one of Sautisol’s songs dubbed Extravaganza out of love and as a way to show appreciation for their work.
“We would like to assure our celebrated musical team @sautisol that we love them & appreciate their music so much. The group has carried our country’s flag so high in international fora & every Kenyan appreciates this. Playing their song yesterday was a show of love for their work,” the tweet read.
Sauti Sol’s complaint
This comes shortly after the Kenyan afro-pop band released a statement saying their work was being used for a campaign without their consent noting that they will be seeking a legal remedy against Azimio.
In the statement dated Monday, May 16, 2022, the band said that it had not authorised former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Azimio to use the track terming it as a flagrant disregard of their basic and fundamental rights to property and freedom of association.
“We did not license this song to the Azimio la Umoja campaign neither did we give any consent for its use in the announcement of their Vice-Presidential candidate. Furthermore, our authority to use the composition, which is one of our most distinct compositions was neither sought nor given. This is blatant copyright infringement as directed by Section 35 CAP 170 of the Copyright Act of Kenya,” Sauti Sol said.
