Some radio and TV stations refuse to pay royalties to COSGA

Apour festival ends with grand durbar

Piracy continuing despite banderole system – Hawkson

Accra (Greater Accra) 5 May ’99

Some private radio stations and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) have refused to pay royalties to the Copyright Association of Ghana (COSGA) with the excuse that the society is not functioning properly.

The radio stations, with the exception of Joy FM and Choice FM, argue that royalties paid to COSGA do not go to the right owners, Mr Jonathan Cudjoe, licensing manager of COSGA, said in Accra on Tuesday.

He told the committee probing alleged visa racketeering among top officials of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and problems confronting the music industry that the defaulting radio stations see GBC as the national station, and since GBC is not paying they do not see the need to pay.

They also claim they are not paying because of confusion in COSGA.

Mr Cudjoe said COSGA could not bring these stations to book because COSGA and the Copyright office are separate bodies.

Previously, the Copyright office was doing the legal work for COSGA to arrest defaulters. Now, however, COSGA does not have the legal backing from the Copyright office, he said.

COSGA has now engaged the services of a legal practitioner to bring defaulters to book. However, the process is slow since the lawyer will have to study the activities of COSGA before taking action.

"Payment of royalties is the percentage of the income a station generates from the use of an artiste's or a composer's work", Mr Cudjoe said, and suggested that payment should be made annually by broadcasting houses.

The use of artiste's works at hotels, restaurants and "night clubs" also attract royalty.

Mr Cudjoe said making COSGA and the Copyright office separate entities is not the best because COSGA needs government backing to take immediate legal action on certain issues.

Mr Chris Ankrah, Managing Director of Citirock and a producer, argued that government's involvement in the affairs of COSGA will ensure law enforcement.

"It is very difficult for a private society like COSGA to survive without government. Government should be an observer to ensure that the right thing is done."

The Committee announced that it has sufficient evidence to hand over John Grahl, alias "Waterproof" and Steve Annan, leader of 'S' boys and girls band, to the Police.

Annan, who was in possession of two passports, has refused to appear before the committee.

Barima Adansi Akyem Omane, chairman of the committee, commended Joy FM and Choice FM for being loyal to COSGA and appealed to GBC and the other stations to emulate.

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Techiman (Brong Ahafo) 5 May ’99

Alhaji Kwadwo Maama Adam, Brong Ahafo Deputy Regional Minister, has urged the people of Techiman to use the annual Apour festival to promote their development and well being.

He said the festival offered rare opportunity and privilege for them to approach their chiefs and elders without fear to discuss pertinent issues affecting the progress of the area.

Alhaji Adam was addressing a durbar of the chiefs and people of the area to round off the festival, which enables the people "to reflect soberly on what goes on in the society and reawakens the spirit of oneness for their mutual benefit".

The beauty of the festival is that no matter how provocative citizens’ approach to an issue might be, the chiefs and elders cannot penalise their subjects.

Alhaji Adam described the festival as "a high form of democracy", which he commended to other communities, and charged the people to pay serious attention to improving the educational standards of their children.

He cited commercial activities in Techiman as a major factor contributing to the low level of enrolment and poor results in the schools.

He expressed regret over the attitude of some parents and guardians, who deliberately refuse to send their children, especially girls to school and encourage them to take to trading and early marriages.

Osabarima Dotobibi Takyia-Ameyaw, Paramount Chief of Techiman Traditional Area, welcoming the guests, explained that Apour "festival gives the people the opportunity to denounce negative tendencies that impede development".

He called for the elimination of vices such as drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, tax evasion, apathy, environmental degradation and illiteracy, since they promote under-development.

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Accra (Greater Accra), 5^th May ‘99 –

Mr Ebo Hawkson, Deputy Chairman of the National Commission on Culture (NCC), on Monday stressed that piracy of music is continuing despite the introduction of the banderole system.

"Piracy is not on the ascendancy as some musicians speculate, but it did not completely die with the introduction of the banderole system because pirates know how to do their work well," he said.

Mr Hawkson said this in Accra at a meeting between the Oversight Committee of COSGA (Copyright society of Ghana) and the four-member panel investigating allegations of visa racketeering and some problems facing the music industry in the country.

The meeting discussed issues relating to royalty distribution and merits and demerits of the Hologram and banderole systems. It also discussed functions of COSGA, which is a limited liability company, and the copyright office which was set up to help the society to function well.

Mr Hawkson, who is also a member of the Oversight Committee of COSGA, said the NCC is doing all it can to arrest pirates and will not sit down and watch them operate.

He said the Bandrole system was initiated by COSGA and not the government.

At the moment it is doing a lot of good for the country in terms of revenue generation.

Reacting to the issue of payment of royalty that is creating some confusion in the industry, he said "senior citizens" also deserve some royalty payment because their music are still being played on the air.

"It is for this reason that the society has categorised musicians intogroups so that every musician is paid his royalty according to the group he or she belongs."

Mr Joe Mensah, past President of MUSIGA, explained that the hologram system is an effective way of checking piracy because it is very difficult to imitate.

He said the process is done with high technology and it involves a stamp on the cassette albums which is very difficult to remove. He added that it can only be removed by the destruction of the cassette.

Mr Mensah explained that royalty payment is given out according to the category that the musician belongs, the various hits he has made, and how long a composer has been composing, among many other considerations.

He suggested that the copyright office should be moved to the Attorney-General's Department to avoid overlapping of powers between the NCC and the copyright office.

Nana Barima Adansi Akyem Omane, chairman of the panel, said the final report of their investigation would cover every problem of the music industry.

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