[1999]DLCA6554 • December 23, 1999 • Court of Appeal
OPANIN KWAME AFREH vs. COPYRIGHT SOCIETY OF GHANA
The plaintiff, Opanin Kwame Afreh, Chairman of the National Drinking Bar Operators Association of Ghana, challenged the Copyright Society of Ghana's (COSGA) right to demand payment of royalties for playing musical works in drinking bars under the Bandrole Cassette System. The plaintiff contended that bar operators already paid purchase tax on music cassettes, income tax, and local fees, and that playing music in bars did not amount to a public performance for gain under the Copyright Law. COSGA asserted its statutory right to collect royalties for public performance of musical works in commercial establishments such as bars.
read moreTWUMASI, JA.: This is an appeal lodged by the Copyright Society of Ghana (COSGA) (hereinafter called the appellant) against the ruling of the High Court, Kumasi delivered on October 3 1997 by which the court made an emphatic pronouncement that the appellant had no legal right whatsoever to enforce any payment of royalties or copyright fees against members of the National Drinking Bar Operators Association of Ghana in respect of their public use of any musical work in their drinking bars. The legal proceedings which culminated in the ruling being assailed were instituted by one Kwame Afreh who styled himself as the Chairman of the Drinking Bar Operators Association of Ghana. Through the process of an originating summons issued out of the registry of the High Court, Kumasi on the 21 August 1996 the plaintiff/respondent (hereinafter called “the respondent”) formulated for the determination of the court the following questions:— (1) Whether the playing of a recorded musical wor...