Yaa Attafua
The Ghana Copyright office has served a note of caution to media houses in the country to desist from airing audiovisual works without the necessary authorisation.
This comes on the back of producers lamenting on the rate at which television stations download movies and other videos and air without recourse to the copyright laws or details of the works.
In a letter signed by the Chairperson of the Copyright Monitoring Team (CMT), Madam Dorothy Habada, television station in the country are required to produce for inspection their licenses which authorise them to air audiovisual works on their various channels.
The letter also cautioned that airing copyright protected works without authorisation constitutes copyright infringement which attracts both criminal and civil sanctions.
“Television stations are, hereby, advised to desist from airing audiovisual works without the relevant licenses,” it added.
The Copyright office, a few weeks ago in collaboration with the Copyright Monitoring Team (CMT), launched the copyright public education and awareness creation campaign at the Coconut Groove Regency Hotel in Accra.
The public education awareness creation campaign, according CMT, is to educate the public and create awareness about the negative impact of copyright activities on the development of the creative industry.
The CMT is made up police officers, copyright owners, book publishers, audio visual right and musical rights holders and copyright office.
The Copyright administrator, Madam Yaa Attafua, at the launch said the CMT’s mandate is to monitor copyright works in Ghana, investigate cases in respect of copyright, undertake anti-piracy exercise and perform any other functions that are necessary to protect others.
She added that the CMT is stepping up its education and awareness creation campaign to drum home the need to respect the rights of creators, adding that “the public education and awareness creation are integral parts of the copyright system.”