Builsa South Member of Parliament Dr. Clement Apaak has weighed in on the alleged copyright breach on the part of President Akufo-Addo in the use of a music video of a musician without approval to promote tourism activities on his social media platform.
The MP described the breach as shameful and a stain on the image of a president who takes pride in his legal abilities.
The government is currently fighting an intellectual property infringement case stemming from the use of video content in a ‘Visit Ghana’ campaign promo.
Kirani Ayat, a musician, had reason to criticize the government after it was revealed that a ‘Visit Ghana’ video posted earlier this week on the President’s social media handle contained footage that belonged to him.
While he maintains that no government agency sought his permission to use the material, the Ghana Tourism Authority, GTA, which produced the video, stated that it had received permission from an agency, Samsal, to use the material, dismissing reports of intellectual property infringement.
In 2019, the President was publicly mocked after it was revealed that the Ghana Beyond Aid office had used a photo of the Nairobi skyline for the cover page of its official document.
The document was drafted by a committee led by the then-senior minister and was unveiled on May Day by President Akufo-Addo.
During his inaugural address in 2017, the president was caught up in another scandal when it was revealed that he plagiarized quotes from speeches by former US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, according to a January 8 Reuters report.
The two sentences at the centre of the pliagiarism controversy that had engulfed social media were:
“I ask you to be citizens, citizens not spectators, citizens not subjects, responsible citizens building your communities and our nation,” and.
“Though our challenges are fearsome, so are our strengths. Ghanaians have ever been a restless, questing, hopeful people and we must bring to our task today the vision and will of those who came before us.”
In response to these incidents, Dr. Apaak stated that a president who prides himself on having renowned lawyers in his administration should not have been involved in these unfortunate incidents.
He indicated that what happened could have been a result of disregard for the law or gross incompetence.
”For a government headed by a lawyer, formed by a party which claims to have the “best lawyers”, men and women, these breaches are most telling. It’s either gross incompetence or disregard for the law or both. Shameful!”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
