Anne Kansiime says her first payment from Google for content she was uploading on her YouTube channel was Ushs 26 million, and her naïve self couldn’t believe it. This payment also landed her in trouble.
Today, Kansiime has the most followed YouTube channel with 1.35 million subscribers. Only behind Masaka Kids Africana with 3.79m and Eddy Kenzo (2.35m). The comedienne even dwarfs the leading media organizations NTV Uganda (1m) and Next Media (547,000).
The entertainer’s online following had a lot to do with the regional fame she won after the success of her TV show Don’t Mess With Kansiime which aired on Kenya’s Citizen TV back in the day.
On top of this, the steady uptake of internet across Africa made it possible for her hilarious video clips to circulate beyond Uganda at a time when hilarity was the new gold. Many found her unusual tough persona coupled with her sense of humor intriguing.
The YouTube payment came during the period Kansiime cohosted the daily TV series Minibuzz on NTV Uganda. The 30-minute current affairs program featured hosts (Kansiime and Brian Mulondo) engaging ordinary Ugandans in passionate, open and free dialogue with an aim of educating, informing and influencing behavioral change.
Part of the program was a segment – Ann’s Moment – that featured hilarious skits in which Kansiime took lead role.
In 2013, Kansiime received a payment of up to Ushs 26m that she never knew about until someone insisted she checks with her bank.
“The payment was wired to me but I didn’t realize it until Ronald asked me about it,” Kansiime said in a recent interview on Shutama Na Nyamwiza.
When she went to the bank to draw the money, like Ronald had advised her, it was an uphill task explaining to the bank what the source of these funds was.
“I went to Centenary Bank Ntinda and I almost got arrested. It was a lot of money. They didn’t believe it. They asked me ‘What do you mean Google sent you money? Who is Google?’” the actress and singer recounts.
“I asked them. ‘How do you know me?’ And they they told me: ‘You do comedy.’ Then I asked them ‘How do you know?’ They showed me clips they had downloaded. So, I asked them ‘Do you think you watch me for free?’ I am being paid.”
It didn’t matter how serious she looked as she explained. They didn’t believe a word she said. In fact, they thought this was typical Kansiime being dramatic.
When she withdrew the money, she took it to the producers of Minibuzz. Her naivety and the sheer amount of the payment had her convinced it was the right thing to do. Not that it wasn’t. The content (clips from Ann’s Moment) for which she had received the payment belonged to the producers of the TV series.
Minibuzz was produced by MIATV, a social enterprise that produces media to address social issues and generate impact throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
As part of the crew, Kansiime was being paid Ushs 2m monthly by the production house – MIATV.
“I knew for certain that I had no rights to the content. And besides, I was being paid by Minibuzz. At the time, my salary was more than enough for me. As long as I could afford to fuel my car I was good,” she says.
The incident landed her in trouble with her employers. They were furious that she had been uploading their content without their knowledge, which would be tantamount to copyright infringement.
“I gave the money to Minibuzz. And they demanded that I hand over the YouTube channel to them. I was quite surprised that they didn’t give me a percentage off all this money. When I told Ronald what had happened, he mocked me for being naive.”
She gives a lot of credit to Ronald, a brother to singer Desire Luzinda for orienting her into the process of monetizing her YouTube channel which initially she had only opened as a reference to her work.
“Today, people open channels to earn. That wasn’t my motivation. Whenever I was auditioning for acting roles, I realized I had no way of sharing my previous works. I needed a platform that would make it easy to simply share links to my skits.”
That is when she began to upload clips from Minibuzz.
But soon, she would discover that other people with a bigger following were downloading this content and posting it on their channels. Until Ronald, out of concern, reached out to her and asked her whether she had monetized her channel. She had no clue what he meant.
He had observed several other channels uploading Kansiime’s clips and potentially earning from it and yet the owner of the intellectual property (at least to him) wasn’t.
“It was him who explained to me how the ads that play during the videos work. He told me I was getting paid but didn’t know. I was confused. He then asked for my password and offered to set up my channel and arrange my content. It was shortly after that that the Ushs 26m payment was wired.”
She revealed that her employers demanded that she hands over her YouTube channel but she refused.
Her story represents many celebrities within Uganda’s entertainment industry whose naivety and ignorance about technology has left them victims of blackmail. There have been several instances where musicians have no control over their social media channels. These channels, including YouTube where their valuable catalog sits, are controlled by their managers or digital handlers.
And whenever there are misunderstandings between the artiste and these handlers, the latter seizes these digital channels.
Kansiime’s 2013 experience is also an awakening to the creatives to begin to invest more time in understanding the dynamics surrounding intellectual property and copyrights. Many creatives have signed contracts without seeking counsel from lawyers and as a result end up signing away their rights. Others have entered agreements without fully appreciating where their obligations begin and end.
In hindsight, Kansiime does not regret taking this money to the Minibuzz producers. She says it was a key learning for her concerning how IP ownership works.
“Had I kept that money to myself and continued to receive these payments, they (producers) would eventually know. And they would sue me and compel me to pay back all this money. Besides, being on Minibuzz is what exposed me to other opportunities like when Citizen TV came calling for me to give them a TV show,” she said.
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