ACA2K Ghana Node
Click here to return to the Country Nodes page
Ghana ACA2K Country Node
|
|
|
Mr. Poku Adusei
|
Ghana research team member, University of Ghana Legon, Accra, Ghana
|
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
Mr. Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi
|
Ghana research team member, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana
|
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
Ms. Naana Halm
|
Ghana research team member, Lawyer, Accra, Ghana
|
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
Ghana presents an important context for the ACA2K study, because the government has, in recent years, tightened copyright rules in the country, including, via the Copyright Act of 2005:
- an increase in the size of fines for cases of copyright piracy; and
- an increase in copyright term from the life of the author plus 50 years to the life of the author plus 70 year thereafter.
This extension of the copyright term to at least 70 years is beyond what is required by international treaties and is an example of what is known as a "TRIPs-plus" provision - a provision going beyond what is required by the WTO's TRIPs Agreement. Such provisions are of major concern to the A2K movement.
Also of concern to some in Ghana is the fact that the country's copyright law appears to restrict the use of folklore by Ghanaians. The restrictions come from the fact that the rights of folklore are now vested, via the 2005 Copyright Act, in the state. Consequently, the Coalition of Concerned Copyright Advocates (COCCA) has complained about copyright law provisions in Ghana which could lead to jail terms for writers and other artists using their traditional folklore to create commercial works without paying a levy to the state.
Additionally, recent research into learning materials access at the University of Ghana (Darkey, 2007) suggests that Ghana's toughened approach to copyright protection is at odds with the needs of students and librarians, who find themselves needing to violate copyright law in order to, among other things, access photocopied versions of textbooks. Researcher Emmanuel Mensah Darkey has begun to investigate the issue of non-copyright-compliance owing to the need for students to photocopy protected materials to promote academic work. In his research, Darkey has estimated that there are "more than 100 commercial photocopy centres on the main campus of the University of Ghana alone" (Darkey, 2007).
Furthermore, Ghana plays host to the Association of African Universities (AAU), which, among other things, has made efforts in recent years to increase African universities' development of online publishing of theses and dissertations -- through the AAU Database of Theses and Dissertations (DATAD) Initiative.
Ghana also has a strong library development and literacy movement, led by the Ghana Book Trust (GBT). The GBT, established in 1989, is well-networked internationally with organisations such as CODE, the International Book Bank, Books for Africa, the Sabre Foundation, Book-Aid International and Australia's Ghana Educational Assistance Forum (Australia). In 2001 GBT started a children's library, with an electronic component, at its office in Accra, and it has received recognition and support from the Ghanaian Parliament and the Ghana Book Development Council. The GBT, which supports librarian training, library development and local-language publishing (e.g., in the Twi language), works with the Ghana Education Service, the Ghana Library Board, and the Ghana Publishers Association.
The activities of the above stakeholders vis-à-vis the copyright system, and access generally, are therefore important for this kind of study in Ghana.
Adusei, P. ‘Burden of proof in land cases: an analysis of some recent decisions of the
Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Ghana’ (2000-2002) 22 University of
Ghana Law Journal 223.
Adusei, P. ‘Cyberspace and the dilemma of traditional copyright law: an assessment
of the impact on the legal community’ (2002-2004) 22 University of Ghana Law
Journal 202.
Adusei, P. ‘The evolution of Ghana’s copyright regime since independence: a critical
appraisal’ in Mensa-Bonsu et al (eds) Ghana law since independence: history,
development and prospects (2007) Black Mask Publication, Accra.
Amegatcher, A.O. Ghanaian law of copyright (1993) Omega Law Publishers, Accra.
Asmah, J. ‘Historical threads: intellectual property protection of traditional
textile designs: the Ghanaian experience and African perspectives’ (2008) 15
International Journal of Cultural Property 271.
Darkey, E.M. 'Photocopy and education In Ghana' (2007).
Available at http://www.kent.ac.uk/law/copysouthfiles/reader_response/Emmanuel-Darkey-Ghana.html
[Accessed 1 May 2007].
|
Country Nodes 
