David Dontoh For Court

Management of Charterhouse has threatened to haul veteran actor David Dontoh to court over copyright issues. Mr. Dontoh used to host a popular local quiz competition program on television called ‘Agro’, which was produced by Charterhouse.

The company is vexed that the actor has come up with another local quiz show for TV, dubbed ‘Agrofie’ and produced by Katamandra. According to an official of Charterhouse, Nii Ayitey Hammond, the ‘Agrofie’ was a copied concept of ‘Agro.’

He said the programme was airing on GTV at the same time ‘Agro’ used to be aired. David Dontoh, who was hosting ‘Agro’, is also the same presenter hosting the new programme. Nii Ayitey Hammond argued that ‘Agrofie’ was a reproduction of the old programme, ‘Agro’, which would be back on TV screens very soon. “Definitely, we are speaking to our lawyers because we can’t sit down for a concept that we developed and tested over the years…

We travelled the length and breadth of this country with this programme. We recorded with an audience of over three hundred thousand. It is shown on TV…we have been getting calls to bring it back. So for the same person who we worked with on the programme, to now go and do the same programme, I think we need to test the law.

This is because we don’t want to sit down to let our toil just go like that,” Ayitey Hammond said on Peace FM’s Entertainment Review on Saturday. However, David Dontoh has called the bluff of Charterhouse.

He said he was ready for the court action. He said the new programme had nothing to do with the old one, explaining that they were two different shows with two different titles.

He stated that he was just the presenter of the show and not the producer as some people seemed to suggest.

“Quiz show is generic programme that is why we have ‘Who Wants To Be Rich’, ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ and ‘What Do You Know’ as well as ‘Big Brain’. There is also ‘Brain Box’ which almost sound like ‘Big Brain’.

There is always a very thin line between plagiarism and authentic work but if you know the ethics and rules of the game, you will not cross the line. I don’t think I crossed the line.

Yes, I was the host of ‘Agro’ but I don’t think there is any law in this country that stops me from hosting another programme because I hosted ‘Agro’. Secondly, ‘Agrofie’ is different from ‘Agro’.

I don’t think Charterhouse has done any programme in Ghana titled ‘Agrofie’,” he replied on Peace FM.