This menace must stop

There is no doubt that the Ghanaian movie industry is going through some very tough times. Compared to recent years, the industry appears to be on a downturn today, a phenomenon which has been attributed to a myriad of factors including the Dumsor crisis among others.

While many in the industry are working tirelessly to remedy the situation, it is sad that others are also working against the progress being made. Showbiz’s report on the activities of certain persons who have devised ways of streaming local movies via social media platform Facebook, is worrying.

Checks reveal over 40 movies on the timelines of these persons with each movie gaining a minimum of 2000 viewers. This practice is a crime and a blatant violation of Copyright laws not only in Ghana but the world over. This practice also deprives many the hardworking producers of these movies of profit which is due them.

An attempt by some concerned producers to halt this daylight robbery has proved unsuccessful. Showbiz however believes producers should not be left to fight this menace alone. The Film Producers Association of Ghana (FIPAG), as well as the Police and the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts need to work together to stop these rascals at once.

It is everyone’s responsibility to protect the intellectual property of people in the creative arts who invest time and money to come out with works only for them to be ripped off. It is the hope of everyone that the downturn in the movie industry can be arrested but all these efforts will come to naught if we allow people to steal our movies.