Art, Entertainment Workshop September 6 in Accra

By Norman Cooper

A creative art business and intellectual property and copyright workshop to educate practitioners in the arts and entertainment industry on local and international laws that protect them from unfair business competition, illegal usages of ideals and benefits would be held in Accra on September 6.

It would also educate on how to brand products and services, source for funding and secure investment and how to seek legal advice in terms of infringement abuse or unauthorised usage of ideals and creativity.

Mr Benjamin Oduro Arhin Jnr, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Play Music Academy (PMA) Ghana, convener of the workshop disclosed this to the Ghanaian Times in Accra yesterday and said the workshop would be organised in collaboration with Watch Your Tongue Ghana.

Mr Arhin , said, according to the Copyright Acts 2005, ACTS 690, individual authors enjoys economic right during their life time and then 70 years after the death of the last surviving author if co-authored after which it becomes public property.

He said a lot of education was lacked in the area, a situation which needed to be revisited to enable practitioners know their rights and take what belonged to them as far as intellectual property and the benefits associated with it were concerned.

According to Mr Arhin Jnr, participants would include singers, producers, book authors, sign writers, computer programmers, fashion designers and television and radio presenters among others.

Among the high profile speakers and dignitaries to take participants through the various subject areas would be Ms Nana Adwoa Adobea Asante, Director of the Ghana National Folklore Board and Mr Kwame Boadi, council member of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The rest include Professor John Collins of the University of Ghana, Legon; Socrates Safo, Director of Creative Arts Council of the National Commission on Culture; Kwasi Ofori Appiah, a serving Police Officer and founder of Watch Your Tongue and Benjamin O. Arhin Jnr, a Creative Arts Business, Intellectual Property and Cultural Entrepreneurial Initiatives Consultant.

According to Mr Arhin Jnr, similar workshops would be replicated in the rest of the 15 other regional capitals of the country to attain a national wide coverage on the awareness of intellectual property education campaign.

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