Copyright education campaign launched in Africa

[Len]

The Copyright Office, in collaboration with the Copyright Monitoring Team (CMT), on Tuesday launched the copyright public education and awareness creation campaign, in Accra.

The campaign is to educate the public and create awareness about the negative impact of copyright activities on the development of the creative industry.

Ms Yaa Attafua, Acting Copyright Administrator, said public education and awareness creation were an integral part of the copyright system.

She said experience in the copyright delivery system has shown that there cannot be any effective enforcement system without education.

“Education, awareness creation and building respect for copyright are prerequisites for enforcement,” she said.

She said the digital technology has made enormous impact on the copyright landscape, saying that, although the digital ecosystem provides enormous opportunities to creators of copyright’s global market, they were not without challenges.

The problem of copyright infringement in the digital online environment is huge and enforcement is much more difficult.

Ms Attafua said in Ghana, the Copyright Office is confronted with both physical and digital online piracy, making it imperative to have an aggressive "building respect for copyright campaign.

“It is for this reason that the Copyright Office together with the Copyright Monitoring Team (CMT) is stepping up its education and awareness creation campaign by using both the traditional and new media to drum home to all and sundry the need to respect the rights of creators”.

She expressed appreciation to the team for their enthusiasm and effort in developing the materials.

Ms Dorothy Habadah, Chairperson of the CMT, said the team is made up Police Officers, Copyright owners, Book Publishers, Audio Visual Right and Musical Rights Holders, and Copyright Office.

She said the team’s mandate is to monitor copyright works in Ghana, investigate cases in respect of copyright, undertake anti-piracy exercise, and perform any other functions that are necessary to protect others.

“We have carried out this mandate since our inauguration through various random anti-piracy exercises and engaging in various public education forums on television and radio,” she said.

Ms Habadah said with the view to expanding their reach, they have decided to set up various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and twitter, through which they would easily disseminate information, to the public, and put up bill boards at various locations mainly in Kumasi and Accra.