The Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame has led the delegation as Ghana signs the protocol on voluntary registration of copyright and related rights by Member States of the African Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO).
Mr. Dame led the delegation to Uganda where the protocol was signed. He welcomed ARIPO’s decision to affirm the regional rule-making in the area of copyright and related rights on the continent.
“The expression that our destinies as African countries are linked could not have been truer at any time other than now. The quest to protect copyright and related rights on the African continent is a clear manifestation of the reality that, as Africans, we swim in one boat. This reality has been given a shot in the arm by the adoption of the protocols for the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), whose headquarters my country Ghana has the privilege of hosting,” he said at a Diplomatic Conference.
He stated that the Copyright is a tool to promote cultural independence and diversity.
“Certainly, the labors of the mind and productions of the brain are as equally entitled to the benefits of protection and income arising therefrom as the labors of the body are. Authors, composers and producers of works in Africa have a moral, legal and equitable right to the profits of their works and if others pillage and pirate them, the continent should have a sound framework for bringing them to justice. After all, even the Holy Bible prohibits one reaping where one has not sown,” he added.
