President of the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG), has expressed strong criticism of Ghana’s copyright laws, describing them as virtually non-existent and detrimental to the advancement of the creative sector.
In an interview with the state-owned Graphic Showbiz newspaper, Mr. Aboagye attributed the challenges to the Ghana Copyright Office’s reluctance to transition to digital processes, impeding efforts against piracy and discouraging the generation of new creative works.
“Last year, I created content which went viral, and a Nigerian uploaded it on his YouTube channel. When I decided to upload it, YouTube flagged it. I was told I could not do it because it was not mine. How do we fight these issues?
“Our current copyright laws do not make provision for these online contents and your intellectual property just goes down the drain in just a second.
“So, if someone pirates your content and you manage to take them on, and they get a good lawyer to defend them, you are finished, because there is no legal backing for you again,” he said.
Mr. Aboagye additionally voiced apprehension regarding the antiquated mindset of the Ghana Copyright Office, underscoring the deficiency in existing laws to safeguard content creators in the era of digital content.
“The Copyright Office is not doing much. They don’t even have plans to develop digital certificates which we could stand on to challenge certain institutions.
“This is because when someone uploads your content and you challenge it, they can grant your request if you have a digital certificate for the content you have produced,” he stated.
In order to avoid disputes, he thus called for increasing stakeholder awareness and education regarding copyright, royalties, and other relevant topics.
“There is much education to be done to sensitise stakeholders on these copyright issues, royalties and acquisition to avoid conflict of interest,” he added.