Intellectual Property owners to earn Royalties – Minister
The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MoTAC) is set to roll out policies and structures that will ensure that intellectual property owners received royalties for their creative works, Mrs Barbara Oteng Gyasi, the sector Minister has announced.
She said such initiatives would reduce the constant misunderstandings, strained relationships and accusations of unfairness within the industry and ensure wealth creation for the practitioners.
She said this at a day’s seminar organized by Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and Character House in Accra.
The seminar, which was held on the theme: “The Future of Music Business”, attracted musicians, music producers, corporate organisations among others.
It was aimed at equipping industry players with the requisite knowledge about the numerous opportunities they could make wealth through music, as well as to offer them the opportunity to network.
Mrs Oteng Gyasi said the Ministry was aware of the significant role the creative arts industry could contribute to positively impact the economy, in terms of providing employment and generation of income for the youth, as well as the country.
“This has culminated in the development of the creative arts bill currently pending before parliament to provide the legal framework for the creative arts industry”, she said.
“The act, when passed, will help to grow the industry, both nationally and internationally through partnerships and industry development assistance, which will facilitate fast ways to commercialization and innovation”, she noted.
She therefore underscored the need for industry players such as Producers, Directors and Marketers to employ professionals in their dealings in order to maximize the potential of the industry.
Commending VGMA and Charter House for organizing the seminar, Mrs Oteng Gyasi said such seminars were imperative if challenges confronting the industry were to be tackled.
“The Ministry shall, therefore, facilitate a calendar of seminars and workshops to address the many gaps in the industry. The seminar would inspire our musicians and address some of the challenges currently confronting the industry”, she said.
She assured the musicians and other stakeholders within the industry of the Ministry’s commitment and support to build a robust and sustainable industry that would place Ghanaian music and artists on the global front to derive the economic benefits of their trade.
Madam Solafunmi Oyeneye, Senior Channels Manager of MTV urged musicians to always put their target audience first when composing a song.
She encouraged up and coming artists to own their music, especially their music videos because no one would do that for them.
Source: GNA