The Zimbabwe Council of Copyrights (ZICCO) has rejected claims that it is responsible for the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association’s (ZIMURA) failure to meet the demands of musicians, saying the two organisations operate independently and should not be confused in financial reports or public statements.
The response comes as ZIMURA faces mounting pressure over falling royalty payments, licensing disputes, the composition of its board and complaints about the way money collected from the use of music is managed. Musicians have taken their concerns to Parliament, where they described a system that was failing to give creators a fair return from the commercial use of their work.
ZICCO chief executive Dr Tafadzwa Masembura said his organisation had been made a scapegoat for problems within ZIMURA. In a statement, he said: “We would like to set the record straight regarding recent reports and assertions concerning its (ZIMURA) operations, royalty collections and relationship with other collective management organisations (CMOs).”
ZICCO is a collective management organisation, meaning it collects and administers copyright payments on behalf of rights holders. Masembura said the council currently collected royalties from general users of music, including restaurants, bars, nightclubs and hotels.
“Our mandate is clear: to ensure that our members, as rights holders, benefit from the use of their creative works,” he said.
He also disputed claims that ZICCO received money from broadcasters or had weakened ZIMURA by offering cheaper licences. “For the avoidance of doubt, ZICCO has never received royalties from radio and television stations, despite the fact that music belonging to our members is used by these broadcasters. Reports suggesting otherwise are therefore incorrect,” Masembura said.
“We also categorically reject reports that ZICCO has been undercutting ZIMURA.”
The council said its licensing work had mainly involved approaching institutions and businesses that had previously operated without the required licences. “While ZICCO licenses rights holders and users of copyrighted works within its mandate, our approach has been mainly to reach out to institutions and stakeholders that previously operated without obtaining the requisite licences,” Masembura said.
He said the organisation’s willingness to engage first-time licensees on flexible terms was consistent with the Government’s ease-of-doing-business policy. That approach, he added, had helped bring into the licensing system stakeholders who were unfamiliar with the process.
“ZICCO’s operations should also not be conflated with allegations of incompetence, financial exploitation or mismanagement levelled against other CMOs,” he said.
The dispute has intensified alongside a sharp fall in ZIMURA’s reported royalty distributions. The association distributed US$941,379 in 2023, followed by US$589,361 in 2024. For the 2025 licensing year, it distributed US$200,000 among 4,965 musicians. The latest figure represents a decline of nearly 79 per cent over two years. The highest individual payment was reported to be US$2,000, while the average allocation was about US$40 before differences in individual earnings were taken into account.
ZIMURA board chairperson Alexio Gwenzi attributed the fall to restrictions on licensing cover bands, defaults by some broadcasters and the movement of traditional revenue streams from bars, hotels, restaurants and clubs to a second collective management organisation. He also referred to interference and restrictions affecting ZIMURA’s operations.
“Had we been allowed to operate freely… we could have easily distributed over US$1 million,” Gwenzi said.
Acting ZIMURA executive director Henry Makombe pointed to the wider economic strain on businesses. He cited company closures, rising prices, power cuts and reduced consumer spending, saying fewer businesses were actively licensed and some music users delayed payment of licence fees. He also blamed competing licensing demands, confusion over which organisation represented particular rights and outdated membership information that affected the allocation of royalties.
The figures became a central issue during parliamentary public hearings held to examine the operations of ZIMURA and ZICCO and the wider plight of Zimbabwean musicians. The hearings were scheduled across Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo, Mutare and Chinhoyi from 31 August to 4 September, with the committee seeking information on royalty collection, distribution, copyright protection and transparency.
Musicians who appeared before the committee said some beneficiaries received between US$10 and US$30 a year. They accused ZIMURA’s management of corruption, non-payment of royalties and unfair treatment of board members, and called for regular audits and a single licensing system.
Gospel musician Tembalami called for both organisations to be audited. “ZIMURA needs to adapt to changes in the industry. We now have two CMOs collecting royalties on our behalf. There is a lack of transparency,” he said.
Felix Chitopo told the committee that ZIMURA employees were earning more than US$4,000 a month while artists received small royalty payments. He also said the organisation had operated without a board for more than a year, despite its constitution requiring seven members.
“Does a minister have a right to sit on the ZIMURA board? The ZIMURA licence must be cancelled,” Chitopo said.
Former ZIMURA board member Derek Mpofu also criticised the organisation’s management. “If there is a corrupt company on this land, none beats ZIMURA. Collections are not benefiting artists but management,” he said.
Eunice Dembo, widow of the late Sungura musician Leonard Dembo, broke down while addressing the committee. She pleaded for help for widows and orphans who depend on music income.
“Nzwirai tsitsi kuchirikadzi nenherera. Tikutambura isu. Tiri vanhuwo. Toda kuraramawo mararamiro amunoita,” she said.
Dembo said musicians were the rightful owners of the music but were not being consulted on decisions affecting their work. “Our music is taking care of management and not us producers. We are given silly excuses which do not make sense,” she said.
Masembura said ZICCO had been operating for only three years, while other collective management organisations had existed for decades, including periods when one organisation held a monopoly in the sector. He said ZICCO had faced legal battles and significant legal costs but had remained committed to its members.
“At no point have we failed to pay royalties or fulfil our other obligations to our members, including medical, funeral and legal cover. These benefits remain part of our commitment to supporting rights holders beyond royalty collection,” he said.
Masembura added that ZICCO had never blamed ZIMURA for the costs it incurred defending itself in legal cases. He said the parliamentary hearings had shown the need for transparency and accountability across the collective management sector because musicians and other rights holders needed a direct opportunity to raise concerns about the industry.
ZICCO urged ZIMURA to maintain professionalism in its public communications and to stop including the council in financial reporting or representations in a way that could confuse the organisations’ separate operations.
The council said it remained willing to work with the Government, rights holders and other stakeholders on the growth and sustainability of Zimbabwe’s creative sector. For musicians, however, the immediate issue remains the gap between the money generated when their work is played or performed and the small payments reaching the people who created it. The parliamentary hearings and the dispute between the two organisations have placed that gap at the centre of the country’s music-rights debate.
ZIMURA’s royalty figures, the competing licensing arrangements and the testimony from artists have now created pressure for a clearer system that identifies which organisation collects each category of money, how administrative costs are calculated and when rights holders should be paid. ZICCO’s statement adds another demand to that process: that responsibility for the sector’s problems should be assigned accurately, without merging two separate organisations into one account of the industry’s failures.