Ama K Abebrese slams lawmakers over movie piracy

Actress and movie producer Ama K Abebrese has expressed her frustration with the ongoing movie piracy issue in Ghana, stating that lawmakers do not take the creative arts seriously.

According to Abebrese, her own experiences with piracy have been disheartening, citing the example of her movie "The Burial of Kojo" which was released on Netflix in 2019.

Abebrese narrated that after the movie's release on Netflix, a Ghanaian TV station, One Ghana TV, started showing the movie without permission. Despite the production team not receiving payment from Netflix at the time, Abebrese reached out to the TV station, but they feigned ignorance. When she confronted the station's owner, she was blocked.

Abebrese also referenced her previous role as head of production for Visat 1 TV, where she worked tirelessly to acquire the rights to show the "Harry Potter" movie. After advertising the movie's screening, three other TV stations began playing it without permission, further highlighting the prevalence of movie piracy in the system.

Abebrese finds it disturbing that lawmakers are not taking the creative arts seriously, allowing movie piracy to persist. She believes that more needs to be done to protect intellectual property rights and support the creative industry.