
An initiation workshop has been organized for various stakeholders in the copyright industries to mark the commencement of a national study on the contribution of copyright industries to GDP. The workshop which was organized on Thursday, May 10, 2018 at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, Accra, brought together stakeholders from a wide spectrum of industries within the copyright sector. Among participants at the workshop were representatives from the Ghana Book Publishers Association (GBPA), the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW), the Ghana Actors’ Guild (GAG), the Ghana Film Producers Association (FiPAG), the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), the Advertisers Association of Ghana (AAG), the Ghana Printers & Paper Converters Association of Ghana (GPPCA), the Ghana Association of Visual Artists, the Bank of Ghana (BoG), the UNESCO Office in Accra, the Ghana National Museums, the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Graphic Communication Group Ltd (GCGL), among many other institutions. The objective of the study was to sensitize stakeholders on the study and to solicit for the cooperation of all and sundry.

In his keynote address, the Hon. Deputy Minister for Justice and Deputy Attorney-General, Hon. Joseph Kpemka, noted that Copyright industries were abundant in Ghana which was why the Copyright Office deemed it extremely important to have a study conducted to ascertain their size and contribution to the Ghanaian economy. He called on the cooperation and support of all stakeholders for the successful conduct of the study.

Also present at the workshop were Project Coordinator, Swiss Federal
Institute of IP, Mr. Georges Bauer and the National Coordinator, Swiss-Ghana Intellectual Property Project (S-GIPP II), Mr. Samuel Anum Quansah. The workshop was chaired by Mr. Nicholas Appiah, Managing Consultant of the Institutional Capacity Development Consult Ltd, Accra.

The workshop created a platform for the International Consultant, Prof.
Dickson Nyariki, Vice Chancellor of the Muranga’a University of Technology,
Kenya and the National Consultant, Dr. Magnus Ebo Duncan, a former Director of the Economic Statics Division of the Ghana Statistical Service and currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, to interact with stakeholders.
The study is being sponsored by the Swiss-Ghana Intellectual Property
Project II.