The New Copyright Bill And Folklore

I wish to touch on the new copyright bill. Thus I am repeating what I said during the Congress for Artists at the National Theatre recently.

If any person or group of persons use Ghanaian folklore as the raw material in their works, such person should not be asked to pay any levy, provided the users claim no copyright protection for their adaption or new works.

If on the other hand, the users of the folklore wish to enjoy copyright protection for their new works/adaptions, it is only fair that they pay a token sum for using the folk materials.

Bear in mind that works in the folk tradition are being created all the time. Folklore does not mean works created by our ancestors who are long dead and gone.

I wish to add that, should one violate the above principle I share the view that, a maximum penalty of prison term should apply.

In their book Music, Money and Success, Jeffrey Brabeck and Todd Brabeck stated that in America for example, ?a number of limitations are placed on the artist with respect to mechanical royalties for copyrighted arrangement of public domain composition.?

These include some recording companies not paying writers and publishers mechanical royalties for recording public domain material while some pay royalties according to the amount of new material added to the work.

The submission I have, made its roots in this information. Let?s have discipline in show business.