Carlos Hits At MUSIGA

Mr Carlos Sakyi, a leading member of the Professional Musicians Association of Ghana (PROMAG) and a copyright advocate has blamed the previous administration of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) for what he described as "the failure of Charterhouse to adhere to copyright laws". Charterhouse, the biggest organiser of major entertainment events including the Ghana Music Awards was said to have "recorded a previous award ceremony on CDs and sold them without the knowledge of musicians who were part of the event", an act which is seen as infringement on the copyright laws of the land. Charles Amoah and Kojo Antwi were among musicians who were among musicians who were at the said awards ceremony and are seeking redress. Mr Sakyi claims he was fighting on their behalf. Speaking on Metro TV's Morning Ride last Saturday, Mr. Sakyi said MUSIGA was allied to Charterhouse and entrusted also with the implementation of the copyright laws, as such it stood a better chance of making Charterhouse do the right thing. He expressed regret that the union had failed to do that. In reaction, Mrs. Diana Hopson, president of MUSIGA, told Beat waves that MUSIGA supports Charterhouse in the organisation of music awards but "I don't know if there was an agreement of that sort to commercialize the awards". According to her, it was generally unlawful to commercialize a programme musicians feature in without first having any agreement with them. However, Mrs Hopson said Charterhouse had been a major force behind the music industry especially in the area of awards and deserved some recom¬mendations. She said the or¬ganization must be urged to continue with its support to the industry and not use a mistake they might have made in the past to discredit them. Mr. Sakyi who is the CEO of Galaxy Entertainment said the law was supreme and that "Charterhouse must compensate the musicians who were involved". He appealed to all who were doing business in the music industry and those who were yet to come in to do same and make sure they do the right thing, adding "we are not doing anybody a favour".