Bnoskka
Creative Arts Business and Intellectual Property Consultant, Benjamin Oduro Arhin Jnr, popularly known as Bnoskka, has urged artistes and cultural professionals to respect all cultures, noting that “each culture has unique cultural features and traditions that give identity, self-respect, and pride to the people.”
He was speaking at a conference for artistes and cultural professionals in Cape Coast, Central Region, organised by the National Commission on Culture (NCC).
It seeks to guide participants on how to thrive in the music industry, and discussed pertinent issues affecting growth in the music industry.
Bnoskka, who is also a national expert for the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme, stressed the importance of educating artistes about copyright, intellectual property laws, and the Ghana Cultural Policy, among other topics.
He also highlighted the need forregistering one’s original work of art in order to protect intellectual property,stressing that creators will be able to defend their rights in situations where their works are used without permission.
He advised participants on how to ensure that they receive just compensation when their songs are used in ads or when their movies and music videos are synced without their permission.
Bnoskka also counseled artistes to establish a pension plan to ensure financial security in their old age, and encouraged them to plan ahead in order to avoid financial difficulties later in life.
Supported by the UNESCO-Aschberg Programme, participants of the conference were drawn from the Central, Western North, and Western regions.
It was on the theme “Empowering artistes through policy formulation and robust legal framework: An engagement with artistes on inputs into cultural policy, copyright, and other relevant laws.”
Dr. Richardson Commey Fio, Acting Deputy Executive Director of the NCC, stated that the conference’s objective was to empower Ghana’s up-and-coming artistes and cultural workers by bringing their methods in line with the country’s cultural policy.
Many Ghanaian artistes, according to Dr. Fio, were not familiar with the laws and regulations that control the country’s cultural and creative industries.
He emphasised how crucial it is to teach artistes about laws protecting intellectual property, copyright, and the Ghana Cultural Policy, among other topics.
By George Clifford Owusu