Stop showing Ghanaian movies in ‘Trotro’ - FIPAG Boss Warns

The Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG)
has warned transport agencies and commercial
bus drivers to stop airing Ghanaian movies to
passengers onboard their vehicles or be prepared
to pay royalties for the films or face the wrath of the
law.
Steve Asare Hackman, president of FIPAG, issued
the warning and said the 2005 Copyright Law Act
690 mandates every individual who shows a
Ghanaian movie for commercial purposes to pay
some form of royalty to the owner of that film.
“Once a film producer registers his film at ARSOG,
based upon the number of works that you have
registered, the board would allocate a percentage of
the royalties they collect annually to that producer.
The law defines the first user as the one showing
the movies for free and the second user as the one
collecting money before showing the movie. The
buses fall under the second users because the
drivers show the movies while passengers pay to
be on board that bus; therefore they are expected to
pay royalties to the producers,” Mr Hackman told
NEWS-ONE.
Mr Asare said FIPAG, together with the Audio Visual
Right Society Of Ghana (ARSOG) board, has
instructed all commercial bus drivers who show
films in their buses to pay a fixed rate annually to
ARSOG.
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“As we speak currently, majority of them are willing
to pay but those who are not willing to pay will be
prosecuted by the law. For now, the Audio Visual
Right Society Of Ghana (ARSOG) board has given a
flat rate to the buses. Each bus is expected to pay
GH¢20 for registration and GH¢25 for royalties.
Therefore, in all, each bus is expected to pay GH
¢45 for the first year and GH¢ 25 in the subsequent
year,” he stated.
However, the FIPAG boss admitted that though the
showing of Ghanaian films in buses was a way of
promoting the film industry, his administration and
ARSOG were interested in the collection and
payment of monies due movie producers.
“Each bus driver that registers and pays the annual
levy would be given a sticker which would help us
differentiate them from those who have not paid.
Because it is a law, it is empowered by the state so
the police would be informed and they would mount
random checks. If you are caught, you would be
sent to court and prosecuted accordingly,” he
noted.