Copy Right Society of Ghana supports probe
Unholy alliances killing music industry
Accra (Greater Accra) 24 October 2001 - Mr Faisal Helwani, Executive Director of Bibini Music Production, said on Tuesday that "unholy alliances" between executives and producers of music in the country is killing the industry.
He said through this alliance, they have been exploiting the work of composers. "It is like crabs in a bucket, everyone is pulling the other from coming out," he said in an interview with the GNA in Accra.
Mr Helwani said people who know next to nothing about the music industry are selling composers' works abroad without their knowledge and recognition of their right.
Mr Helwani, who is also a member of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA), said Ghanaian music has over the years lost its identity. Mediocrity has set in and even the schools no longer teach music as a subject.
According to him Ghana cannot produce American music to sell to American citizens. Therefore, whether Ghana produces highlife, hiplife or pop music it must reflect the true identity of the nation by tapping inspirations from its tradition and culture.
He said many organisations, especially the FM stations, owe COSGA millions of cedis in performance royalty collections, and are showing no sign of paying up.
Mr Helwani urged frequency board to ensure that a clause on the payment of royalties is inserted in the agreement under which licence is given to FM stations. "You can't use somebody's work or property without paying for it. This a universal law."
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Accra (Greater Accra) 24 October 2001 - The Board of the Copy Right Society of Ghana (COSGA) said on Tuesday that it supports the call for a probe into the affairs of the society.
"We are joining the Ghana Association of Societies of Composers, Authors and Publishers (GHASCAP) and others to ask for a probe of COSGA beginning from its inception in 1986 till the present."
Briefing the press Mr Joe Mensah, President of COSGA, said its aim of protecting the interest of composers has over the years faced antagonism from the Copy Right administration.
"COSGA is an independent body of composers and it is our right to survive. So many people are benefiting from our works." He alleged that the recorded transcript of a meeting chaired by Prof. John Atta Mills, former Vice President at which COSGA was separated, is mysteriously missing.
Mr Mensah said the current board has been in office for only eight months but has distributed royalties for the first half of the year and is working towards the second distribution for the next half.
He said the society is presently developing an insurance scheme based on or similar to the American Society of Composers credit weighting system to benefit veteran composers. "It is the divide and rule syndrome in our system that prevents our laudable efforts to be fully appreciated."
Mr Mensah announced that the Confederation of International Society of Authors and Composers (CISAC) has agreed to assist COSGA in diverse ways to act as final conciliators.
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