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Music industry loses 10 million
dollars annually through piracy - GAPI
Kumasi, Nov. 23, Ghanadot/GNA - The National Executive
Committee of Ghana Association of Phonographic Industry (GAPI)
on Thursday said the high level of piracy in the country was
a bane to the vibrant and lucrative music industry.
It said about 10 million dollars were lost annually to
owners of musical works through piracy and other illegal
practices because only a copy of 100 Compact Discs (CD) sold
on the market could be genuine.
Mr John Mensah-Sarpong, President of GAPI announced this at
a day's workshop organised by the association for
stakeholders in the music industry in Kumasi.
He noted that with a market size of about 15 million copies
of cassettes sold annually, it had reduced to less than
three million copies due to the illegal use of musical works
and could lead to the collapse of the music industry when
not addressed.
Mr Mensah-Sarpong appealed to government to speed up with
the passage of a Legislative Instrument (LI) for the
establishment of a Copyright Tribunal to assist owners of
musical works to take legal action against offenders to
enable them benefit from their investments.
He said GAPI was collaborating with some NGO's to establish
a Copyright Investment Bank (CIB) in the country to assist
musicians and producers to enhance their businesses.
Mr Kwame Anyimadu Antwi, a Legal Practitioner, urged GAPI to
come out with a security device to track down radio and
television stations that used musical and audio-visual works
as their raw materials without paying royalties to the
owners.
GNA
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