The Ministry of Information, as part of its Media Capacity Enhancement Programme, organised a workshop for arts and culture journalists in Accra on Friday, October 11, 2024.

The programme held at the Accra Tourist Information Centre, had in attendance arts journalists across various media networks. 

This training tackled issues regarding Intellectual Property (IP) laws and also shed light on the Creative Arts Industry Act (1048).

Kwadwo Ofori Dankwah Esq., a legal practitioner, took the participants through the composition of the creative economy, highlighting its multi-faceted nature. He also explained some of the provisions in the Creative Arts Industry Act which is meant to regulate activities of Ghana’s creative arts space.

He further explained the case between Mark Darlington Osae and the Food and Drugs Authority regarding the ban on celebrities from plugging alcoholic beverages. Kwadwo Ofori Dankwah Esq. gave more insight into the ruling as he analysed its implications. 

Benjamin Oduro Arhin Jnr. (Bnoskka), a lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, who has specialty in copyright matters, highlighted the various aspects of intellectual property and what constitutes copyright infringement. Narrowing it down to media practice (particularly radio presentation), Bnoskka also underscored the implications of doing Live Presenter Mentions (LPMs) over people’s music.

He therefore advised the participants against the use of people’s intellectual property in their line of duty.

The Media Capacity Enhancement Programme is aimed at strengthening the skills and knowledge of journalists in the country.

The training for the arts journalists comes after the third cohort trained about 100 journalists across the country from September 10 to 13, 2024.