Ghana’s creative sector gets mediating body

The committee is to assist artists with copyright issues and help with the securing of royalties for creative work.

Headed by Justice Samuel Brobbey, board chairman of the Economic and Organised Crime Office, the committee has members including representatives of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO), the Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG), the Audio-Visual Rights Society of Ghana (ARSOG), the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and the Ghana Actors Guild.

“In addition to copyright issues, the committee will deal with all other legal matters affecting the creative arts sector,” a statement from the ministry says. “Its first task is to resolve long-existing disputes between ARSOG and the copyright office.”

The committee is expecting to begin full work in the middle of this year. “The creation of the committee is the first step towards the establishment of the fully fledged special court,” Ghana's Minister of Tourism and Creative Arts, Catherine Afeku, said. 

The president of the Creative Arts Council, Mark Okraku-Mantey, added his voice to news circulating about the committee, saying on radio that it will help with defending the intellectual property rights of Ghanaian creators and others in the creative arts industry.  

“People are just pirating music and works of many creative art people. Some of them think they are doing the owners of the arts a favour. We have always known there are issues but we did not know where to go,” Okraku-Mantey said, adding that the committee’s work “is not an event that needs sponsorship to operate every year. No, it has the backing of the law.”