Stiffer Punishment for Music Pirates

A new Copyright Bill would soon be laid before Parliament seeking to deal drastically with pirates when they are convicted. In spite of the prosecution of offenders of piracy laws, the crime is still high because the current sanctions are no deterrent to unscrupulous persons who prey on the creativity, hard work and investment of those in the literary industry.

The Deputy Education Minister, Alhaji Mustafa Bawa made these observations at the launching of the World Book and Copyright Day in Accra yesterday. He was there on behalf of the Minister of State for Basic, Secondary and Girl Child Education Ms. Christine Churcher.

Alhaji Bawa said pirates reap where they have not sown and this hurts not only creators of the works or persons who invest huge sums of money in production, but also has a negative impact on jobs, taxes, wages and the economy as a whole.

He said no civilized society can live without culture - that is without books, music and other artistic works. The potentials that could be nurtured for the economic and socio-cultural growth of great talents for the nation may whittle away if the menace of piracy is not curbed, he said. The Director General of UNESCO, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura said books are fundamental means of access to knowledge of values, wisdom, aesthetic sense and human imagination. "As a protector of memory and a vector for creativity, a book is both a receptacle for words and a mechanism for the exchange of ideas," he added.