A researcher and music rights advocate, Carlos Sakyi has stressed the need for Ghanaians to give more recognition and respect to the country’s music industry.

He noted that the industry is collapsing as a result of nonfunctional laws governing it, and added, “Music laws must be obeyed and not shunned.”

He was speaking at a seminar organized by Metro TV and Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) on the topic comparative study in the Music Industries of Ghana and South Africa.

Participants were musicians, producers and stake holders of the music industry in Ghana.

Mr. Sakyi appealed to individuals, especially broadcasters, to seek the permission of music owners before using them.

“When you create a song, you have established a property and therefore it must be maintained,” he said.

Mr Sakyi also noted that lack of accountability and transparency in the operations of the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA), especially its flawed royalty distribution system, had deprived copyright owners of musical works of billions of cedis.

He said the inability to enforce the laws on piracy and copyright, non-payment of the mechanical royalties by record companies, are encouraging copyright infringement and depriving composers of huge fortunes and impoverishing them.

Mr. Sakyi called for the amendment of a number of clauses of the copyright Act to bring it into conformity with the country’s constitutional norms and practices.

Check out photos of the forum

Ghana Music and Copyright Seminar >>