The President of the Creative Arts Council has assured people in the creative industry the special court to deal with creative issues and disputes will begin work by mid 2019.

Speaking on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, Mark Okraku-Mantey explained that lawmakers have agreed on the operation of the court to protect the intellectual properties and rights of all people in the creative art industry.

“People are just pirating music and works of many creative art people. Some of them think they are doing the owners of the arts a favour,” he told KMJ host of the show.

The President’s comments come after the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture set up Creative Arts Mediation Committee to deal with all matters relating to intellectual property rights and disputes involving creative artists.

Membership of the committee is made up of representatives of the Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO), Audio-Visual Rights Society of Ghana (ARSOG), Musicians Union of Ghana, Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG) and Ghana Actors Guild.

The committee is chaired by Mr. Justice Samuel Brobbey, retired Supreme Court Judge, board chairman of the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and chairman of the Brobbey Commission that collated views from the public leading to the creation of six more regions in the country.

Read more: Ministry takes steps to set up 'court' for creative arts

Mark Okraku-Mantey revealed the committee has begun looking into some cases already present. “We’ve selected some people to sit with Justice Brobbey to go through some of the cases.”

The Creative Arts Council president assured industry players the creative arts special court has come to stay.

According to him, disputes and conflicts are inevitable. “We have always known there are issues but we did not know where to go.”

The court will be made available at all times to all the people in the creative industry who need their conflicts and copyright issues resolved.

“This is not an event that needs sponsorship to operate every year. No, it has the backing of the law,” he said.

Mr. Okraku-Mantey warned the industry players to desist from bringing personal issues to the court.

The Ministry and the Creative Arts Council is working to get the information about the court to all industry players.

“We will make sure all relevant TV and radio stations talk about and advertise the information across the industry,” Mr. Okraku-Mantey added.