Daily Nation Warns That Kenyans Found Sharing E-Papers Illegally Will Be Jailed

The Nation Media Group (NMG) has addressed the matter of individuals distributing their newspapers' digital publications on social media without authorisation.

In a statement, NMG on Wednesday, January 22 revealed that the individuals have been making unauthorised copies of its various newspaper publications (E-Paper) and distribute them in digital format for sale on, among others, social media platforms.

The regional media house affirmed that no person is allowed to reproduce or resell its e-paper without prior authorisation, terming it an infringement of copyright laws and thus a criminal offence. 

"All persons are hereby informed, cautioned and notified that no person has the authority to reproduce or generate digital and/or electronic versions of NMG's E-paper or any other publications and distribute them to third parties, whether for sale or otherwise," the statement read in part.

"Such action, whether limited to production, copying, distribution and/or retention of such copies in custody constitute piracy and is an infringement of NMG's copyright in its publications and is a criminal offence contrary to Section 38 of the Copyright Act."

NMG urged Kenyans to henceforth, and with immediate effect, cease and desist from any of the aforementioned infringement actions. These including but not limited to the reproduction, distribution and/or retention of such infringing copies of NMG's publications generally and the E-Paper in particular.

The habit has been prevalent among culprits sharing copies of the E-paper on WhatsApp.

"Any person in current possession of the infringing works is required to immediately destroy such copies and desist from this or any other infringement of NMG's rights to its publications in the future," demanded the media house.

Surveillance is on-going and NMG vowed that any person who commits any of the infringement actions above after the date of the notice shall be prosecuted for the criminal offences and will suffer all the other rights and remedies afforded to NMG in law.

The law stipulates that anyone convicted of such unauthorised distribution and related offences faces a fine not exceeding Ksh400,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both. The offences include the sale, distribution, and possession of the infringing copy.

This notice could affect a large number of Kenyans as NMG produces a series of daily publications, including Daily Nation, Taifa Leo, and Business Daily. The media house also publishes a weekly regional paper, The East African.

On May 20, 2024, NMG announced an adjustment of the prices of the Business Daily newspaper and its ePaper version upwards.

Loyal readers of Kenya’s only business/economics newspaper began parting with Ksh100 per hard copy from Monday, May 20, an increase from Ksh60 as was the case before. For those purchasing the ePaper, they had to pay Ksh80, up from Ksh40.