Piracy of recorded music costs Ghana, sound and video recording industries billions of cedis in lost revenue and profits. These losses, however, represent only a fraction of the impact of recorded music piracy on the Ghanaian economy as a whole.
Combining the latest data on nationwide piracy of recorded music and study done by Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) have reveal that piracy costs Ghanaian workers significant losses in jobs and earnings, and government, substantial lost tax revenue.
Piracy in the Ghanaian music industry was costing the nation above ¢20.2 billion (GH¢2.02million) in early 2006. Come 2007, the rate at which piracy is costing the nation has risen by a whooping 68% to ¢34 billion (GH¢3.4 million).
Ghana’s recording industry is currently worth over ¢62 billion (GH¢6.2 million).
Alhaji Sidiku Buari, President of MUSIGA told the Business Chronicle that most of these pirated recorded music in the form of CDs and DVDs of Ghanaian music are alleged to have been manufactured in China, Hong Kong, Togo and Ghana as well as other places and smuggled into the country.
“If piracy is not checked, we would continue to lose billions of cedis through tax evasion, royalties to the MUSIGA and unemployment,” he stated.
He said one of the reasons why this is happening is the lack of a Legislative Instrument to support the Copy Right Law passed in 2005.
“Ghana currently has a copyright law passed by parliament in 2005 and the President assented to it But it is not being implemented because there is no Legislative Instrument (LI) to show the modalities through which the law can be implemented,” he lamented.
He said it was only through the LI that we would know what to do, but we have not heard anything,” he added.
The term ‘piracy’ is generally used to describe the deliberate infringement of copyright on a commercial scale.
In relation to the music industry, it refers to unauthorized copying and, in this context, falls into 3 categories:
Simple piracy
The unauthorized duplication of an original recording for commercial gain without the consent of the rights owner. The packaging of pirate copies is different from the original. Pirate copies are often compilations, such as the “greatest hits” of a specific artist, or a collection of a specific genre, such as dance tracks.
Counterfeits
Products copied and packaged to resemble the original as closely as possible. The original producer’s trademarks and logos are reproduced in order to mislead the consumer into believing that they are buying an original product.
Bootlegs
These are the unauthorized recordings of live or broadcast performances. They are duplicated and sold - often at a premium price - without the permission of the artist, composer or record company.
Piracy is the greatest threat facing the music industry today. The international recording industry is responding proactively and aggressively to this US$4.3 billion worldwide problem. The economic losses due to piracy are enormous and are felt throughout the music value chain.
Ghana’s domestic music piracy level is between 10 to 25%, whiles Nigeria’s and Kenya’s is over 50%.
In the USA, a report released by Institute of Policy Innovation (IPI) on August 21, 2007 indicates that rampant global piracy of recorded music has cost the U.S. $12.5 billion in economic output and 71,060 jobs annually.
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