Respect For Copyright And Related Rights

Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs)
The term intellectual property refers broadly to the creations of the human mind. Intellectual property rights (IPRs) protect the interests of creators by giving them property rights over their creations. Copyright and Related rights is one of the main branches of IPRs.

What is Copyright?
It is the exclusive legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material. Copyright law protects only the form of expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. Copyright law protects the owner of property rights against those who copy or otherwise take and use the form in which the original work was expressed by the author.

What constitutes copyright?
Copyright relates to artistic creations, such as books, music, paintings and sculptures, films and technology-based works such as computer programs and electronic databases.

Works eligible for copyright protection under the Ghana copyright Law, Act 690 include:

(a) literary work, (books, pamphlets, presentations, brochures, flyers, Manuals, Guides, lectures, addresses, sermons; except journal publications)

(b) artistic work, (works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography; works of applied art; illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three dimensional works relative to geography, topography, architecture or science;

(c) musical work, (musical compositions with or without words)

(d) sound recording,
(e) audio-visual work,
(f) choreographic work,
(g) derivative work,(translations, adaptations, arrangements of music and other alterations of a literary or artistic work, collections of literary or artistic works such as encyclopaedias) and

(h) computer software or programmes.
What Rights are protected under copyright?
There are two types of rights under copyright. 1. Economic rights allow the rights owner to derive financial reward from the use of his works by others. Economic right ends after the expiration of the protection period. 2. Moral rights allow the author to take certain actions to preserve the personal link between himself and the work. This right persist in perpetuity (i.e. even after the expiration of Economic rights).

Ownership of Copyright
The owner of copyright in a work is generally, in the first instance, the person who created the work, i.e. the author of the work except in some few cases. For example, if the work is a commissioned work, then the economic rights will vest in the commissioner. However, the author or creator still owns the moral right.

Do I have to register my work to get protection?

No. Copyright works are automatically owned by the original author of that work and protected once the idea is expressed and fixed (i.e. the work is created). Thus, protection of works shall not be dependent on the registration of that work.

Why should I register copyrightable works?
Registration of copyrightable works is mainly for the following purposes;

(a) to maintain a record of works,
(b) to publicise the rights of the owners, and (make money through subscriptions, direct sales of copies, licensing, assignment etc.)

(c) to give evidence of the ownership and authentication of intellectual property (very useful in case of infringement).

How do I register?
An author/publisher may submit the works for registration after its first publication to the Copyright Administrator, Accra. Two copies of the best edition of the work may be deposited at the Copyright Office either in an electronic or manual form.

What Law Protects copyrightable works in Ghana?

Copyright Act, 2005 Act 690 and its regulation; Copyright Regulations, 2010

How long will my work have protection under copyright?

Duration of copyright in individuals
The rights of the author referred to in section 5 (of Act 690) are protected during the life of the author and seventy (70) years after the death of the author unless the contrary is stated in this Act.

Where a work is jointly authored, the rights of the author referred to in section 5 (Act 690) are protected during the life of the last surviving author and seventy (70) years after the death of that author.

Duration of copyright in bodies corporate
Where the copyright in a work is owned by a public corporation or other body corporate, the term of protection shalt be seventy (70) years from the date on which the work was either made or first published, which ever date is the later.

Final Remarks
Creativity must be rewarded both financially and morally. Copyright registration is cheap, simple, and when done on time, gives you wide legal options when you find others infringing your work. I recommend all authors to begin registering copyrightable works as the benefits now and future is enormous. For users of copyright works, let’s buy CDs of original Movies, Songs. For commercial purposes, do not photocopy Novels/Books; Seek permission before you do so. For all users of copyrightable works, let’s respect people’s creativity by paying for their use.

Acknowledgement
The author in compiling this ‘Brief’ used sections of the Copyright right Act, 2005 (ACT 690) of Ghana and duly acknowledges same.

Respectfully submitted,
Hillary Mireku Bortey (Mr.)
Research Scientist & Intellectual Property Rights Advocate