Movie producer and director, Ivan Quashigah, has expressed concern about the surge in online movie piracy on illegal platforms, stressing it poses a risk to the industry's survival.

The renowned producer also mentioned that there was a growing desire for investment in Ghana's film industry, but that had been impeded due to content piracy.

Mr Quashigah was speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the third Graphic Showbiz Forum on the theme, Future of Ghana Movie Industry: Bright or Bleak.

He said it was time the relevant stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, made concerted efforts to give film industry stakeholders the ‘extra teeth’ in tackling individuals who manipulate the intellectual properties of creative professionals.

Mr Quashigah believes that this move could further bolster investor confidence and protect jobs in the film industry.

“People have found a way to load our content on these platforms for free. Some of the content we have on farmhouse movies, and DStv, among others, where people were supposed to pay and watch are being downloaded and shown for free."

“Piracy of our content has a negative impact on our economy and our creative professional's ability to make meaningful earnings. If investors perceive us as a country that has no regard for the protection of intellectual property, they may not have the confidence to come in to invest."

According to him, one key measure that could be taken to crack down on piracy is to take legal action against offenders. He also requested production houses and big broadcasting companies to join forces and pursue legal action against content pirates in the country.

“A giant like DStv should lead us the smaller production companies that are suffering from this piracy to take legal action. What we have to do now is to sue these platforms. When we start, maybe Nigeria could also join us because it is happening all over Africa."

“When they realise that this action will cost them a lot of money, they will begin to operate like the way YouTube does where you copyright your content and upload it on their site and when someone infringes, they take it down."

“I have an app, Farmhouse Movies, where I produce content for people to pay and watch. I spend a lot of money to put this together and others put it out there for people to watch for free, you are collapsing the market and then they will come back and tell us the movie industry is dead”, he said.