Stakeholders in music industry urged to educate public on copyright law

Ashanti Regional Commander of Police Striking Force, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Prince Gabriel Waabu, has appealed to the Copyright Administrator and other stakeholders in the music industry to undertake sustained public education to sensitise the people on the Copyright Law.

He noted that most offenders of the law were often not aware of the consequences of their actions.

DSP Waabu made the appeal when speaking to Ghana News Agency in Kumasi on Tuesday after the arrest of Ebo Aban for allegedly pirating the works of some musicians.

He said most of the offenders were not aware that pirating the works of foreigners, especially musicians was against the Copyright Law of Ghana.

Aban 36, was arrested by a combined team of the Police Striking Force and a Taskforce of Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry (GAPI) during a dawn swoop at Santasi, a suburb of Kumasi.

He was engaged in the piracy of musical works of several musicians and sold them to cassette and VCD/DVD vendors at Adum in the Kumasi Metropolis.

The police retrieved computers, their accessories and 15 packets of blank VCD/DVD, each containing about 100 pieces for his operations.

DSP Waabu explained that copying someone's work for commercial purposes was illegal and appealed to those engaged in such activities to stop.

He said there was the need for the public to understand that copying of intellectual properties, including music, books and others for commercial purposes was an offence and urged stakeholders in the music industry to educate the public on the law.