{"id":356,"date":"2026-09-16T07:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T07:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/?p=356"},"modified":"2026-09-17T07:50:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T07:50:50","slug":"%f0%9d%90%82%f0%9d%90%8e%f0%9d%90%94%f0%9d%90%91%f0%9d%90%93-%f0%9d%90%8a%f0%9d%90%84%f0%9d%90%84%f0%9d%90%8f%f0%9d%90%92-%f0%9d%90%85%f0%9d%90%8e%f0%9d%90%88-%f0%9d%90%96%f0%9d%90%80%f0%9d%90%8c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/?p=356","title":{"rendered":"\ud835\udc02\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc2d \ud835\udc24\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc2c \ud835\udc05\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc22 \ud835\udc16\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc26\ud835\udc1b\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc22 \ud835\udc22\ud835\udc27 \ud835\udc0c\ud835\udc2e\ud835\udc2d\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc21\u2019\ud835\udc2c \ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc28\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc32\ud835\udc2b\ud835\udc22\ud835\udc20\ud835\udc21\ud835\udc2d \ud835\udc1c\ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc2c\ud835\udc1e \ud835\udc28\ud835\udc2f\ud835\udc1e\ud835\udc2b \ud835\udc0e\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc29\ud835\udc28 \ud835\udc1a\ud835\udc1d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Foi Wambui<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Actress and content creator Foi Wambui will remain a defendant in a copyright lawsuit filed by musician Mutoriah over the alleged unauthorised use of his song Beta in an Oppo smartphone advertisement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milimani Principal Magistrate Hosea Mwangi dismissed Wambui\u2019s application to have her name removed from the case, ruling that the issues raised should be determined during a full trial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The application was dismissed with costs to the respondents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute arose from a promotional video for Oppo\u2019s Reno 12 5G smartphone, in which Wambui featured the song Beta. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutoriah, whose real name is Joshua Mutoriah Mwaura, claims the music was used without his permission or a synchronisation licence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>
\n

Mutoriah<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A synchronisation licence is permission to combine copyrighted music with visual content, such as an advertisement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to court reports, Mutoriah says he discovered the advertisement on social media on August 31, 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He later issued a legal notice demanding an apology and acknowledgement of the alleged infringement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After efforts to resolve the matter failed, he filed a lawsuit on November 7, 2024, against Wambui, Oppo Kenya and Aifluence Limited, a marketing agency involved in the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutoriah maintains that he did not authorise the use of Beta in the commercial and that the necessary rights should have been obtained before the song was used to promote the smartphone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competing positions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her application, Wambui argued that she was an independent contractor engaged to create content for the campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She maintained that Oppo reviewed and approved the final advertisement and was responsible for obtaining the necessary music licences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wambui further argued that she did not control the final version of the content published as part of the campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oppo, however, disputed that position. The company argued that it did not select the song and that Wambui was responsible for the content published on her personal social media platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oppo also maintained that it had engaged Aifluence to execute the campaign, rather than contracting Wambui directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The differing positions have placed responsibility for selecting the song, approving the advertisement and securing the required copyright permissions at the centre of the dispute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Court\u2019s decision<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In dismissing Wambui\u2019s application, Magistrate Mwangi found that Mutoriah had pleaded facts raising a reasonable cause of action against the defendants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magistrate held that questions about whether Wambui was only contracted by Oppo, and whether she was required to obtain a synchronisation licence, could not be conclusively determined through an interlocutory application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court therefore directed that the matter proceed to a full trial, where the parties will have an opportunity to present evidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hearing is expected to examine how the advertisement was created and published, who selected the song, who approved the final content and whether the necessary copyright permissions were obtained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For now, Wambui remains a party to the lawsuit alongside Oppo Kenya and Aifluence Limited. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court has not yet determined whether copyright infringement occurred or who, if anyone, is liable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case highlights the legal questions that can arise when music is used in branded content, particularly where responsibility for obtaining copyright permissions is disputed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Foi Wambui Actress and content creator Foi Wambui will remain a defendant in a copyright…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[130,132,131],"class_list":["post-356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-foi-wambui","tag-mutoriah","tag-oppo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/updateplug.co.ke\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}