War On Pirates

To curb the upsurge in the spate of piracy in the country, the Copyright Office in conjunction with the police has embarked on operations in Accra to bring pirates whose activities affect the pockets of musicians to book.

The operation yielded hundreds of pirated works of both local and foreign musicians which were seized.

During the exercise, 22 individuals believed to be owners of some of the pirated works were apprehended and placed in custody at the Nima Police Station in Accra.

Bernard Bosomprah, the Copyright Administrator who led the operation, and the President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Alhaji Sidiku Buari, together with a team including some musicians, producers and audio visual producers, swooped on the pirates at the TUC Area, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Kaneshie and parts of Accra.

The pirated works which included audio and video tapes and pornographic films from neighbouring countries, were seized and taken to the Copyright Office.

According to Mr Bernard Bosomprah, the exercise would be sustained to rid the country of piracy. For his part, Alhaji Sidiku Buari expressed satisfaction with the exercise, saying:

?It is unfortunate that musicians spend sleepless nights to compose and arrange their songs only for some unscrupulous persons to take advantage and make money at their expense.?

The practice, he says, is unacceptable and has requested the police and the public to lend their support to clamp down on the pirates who are reaping where they have not sown.

Alhaji Sidiku said Ghanaian musicians have suffered for far too long at the hands of pirates and the time has come for the pirates to pay for the harm they are causing.