Copyright Administrator holds seminar

B.K. Bosumprah, the Copyright Administrator, has assured creative property owners that the proposed Copyright Bill before Parliament was expected to provide a penal regime which would stop the flagrant infringement of copyrights.

He was speaking at a seminar in Ho organised by the Copyright Office in collaboration with Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) and the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).

It is aimed at educating Copyright owners on their rights and users on their responsibilities. Bosumprah said the maximum penalty of one million cedis for copyright infringement was not deterrent enough.

''The Copyright Office will ensure that the Copyright law is implemented to the letter for the maximum benefit of the right holders.'' Bosumprah said the new law, which would replace PNDC Law 110 passed in 1985, would reflect the current challenges and advantages to the sector and push forward changes in Information Technology (IT).

The Copyright Administrator said the current law did not foresee and could not cope with the rapid development in Information Technology (IT), Internet and other forms of communication and technology that affected copyright.

He said the Copyright Office in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and others would organise a 3-day seminar in April on the administration of Mechanical Rights, Performers Rights and Reprographic Rights.

J. A. Lakai Acting Executive Director of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA), said under the Copyright Law of Ghana ''you may not perform or allow to be performed in public any copyright music without the permission of the copyright owner.''

Ben Nyadzi, Senior Folklore Officer and Head of Administration, Copyright Office, Accra, said the Copyright Office and COSGA were not one and the same organisation.

He explained that Copyright Office was a government agency solely responsible for the implementation of the Copyright Law while COSGA was set up by law to negotiate, collect and distribute royalties to music right holders for the public performance of their works.