PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED vs. MORGAN ADZEI [2011]DLSC2643

Date	2011-06-01
Suit No.	CIVIL APPEAL NO. J4/17/2010
Citation No.	[2011]DLSC2643

DATE-BAH JSC (PRESIDING)

DOTSE JSC

ANIN-YEBOAH JSC

ARYEETEY JSC

AKOTO-BAMFO (MRS) JSC

KWAMI ADOBOR FOR THE APPELLANT

EKOW AWOONOR (WITH GODWIN DZOKOTO) FOR THE RESPONDENT

[2011]DLSC2643
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													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITED<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>MORGAN ADZEI<o:p></o:p>&nbsp;[SUPREME COURT, ACCRA]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

CIVIL APPEAL NO. J4/17/2010 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;DATE: 1ST JUNE, 2011<o:p></o:p>

</div>COUNSEL:&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>KWAMI ADOBOR FOR THE
APPELLANT,<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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EKOW
AWOONOR (WITH GODWIN DZOKOTO) FOR THE RESPONDENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>CORAM: <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
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DATE-BAH JSC (PRESIDING) ,DOTSE JSC ,ANIN-YEBOAH
JSC, ARYEETEY JSC , AKOTO-BAMFO (MRS) JSC<o:p></o:p>

</div><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

JUDGEMENT<o:p></o:p>

</div>DR.
DATE-BAH JSC:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <o:p></o:p>Introduction<o:p></o:p>This case is of seminal
importance in determining the reach of copyright law in Ghana.&nbsp; The appellant has resisted the respondent’s
claim of infringement of copyright with several defences, but the one which has
attracted my attention most is that which asserts that the protection of
copyright law does not extend to the facts of this case, because what has been
reproduced is no more than an idea.&nbsp; This
defence raises for the consideration of this Court the essence of copyright
law.&nbsp; What is the balance of interests
that is struck by the Copyright Act 2005 (Act 690) in common with copyright
legislation elsewhere?&nbsp; This is the
fundamental question that this Court needs to address in this case.&nbsp; Copyright law endeavours to strike a balance
between protecting the economic rights of owners of copyright and the need to
encourage the free exchange and dissemination of ideas which is vital for the
development and progress of any society.&nbsp;
This is why section 2 of the Copyright Act 2005 provides as follows:<o:p></o:p>“Section 2—Ideas, concepts excluded from copyright<o:p></o:p>Copyright shall not extend to ideas, concepts,
procedures, methods or other things of a similar nature.”<o:p></o:p>This case, in my view,
requires of this Court a clarification and application of the law relating to
the scope of the law of copyright in Ghana and is not limited, as contended by
the respondent, to a consideration of whether the findings of fact made by the
learned trial judge are sustainable in the light of the evidence on record.<o:p></o:p>The
facts<o:p></o:p>The facts of the case should
be narrated next to enable an appreciation of the issues of law raised in the
case.&nbsp; The respondent, who was the
plaintiff in the trial court, is the author of a novel entitled: “Woes of
the African Mother”, (hereinafter referred to as “Woes”) which was
first published in August 1982.&nbsp; This
novel was selected by the West African Examination Council as one of the
prescribed texts for prose in the English Language paper for the academic years
2004 to 2006 for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (“BECE”).&nbsp; The respondent, in his action commenced at
the Commercial Division of the High Court, Accra, on 10th November
2005, claimed that, following a meeting of the Directors of the Ghana Education
Service (“GES”) on the literature component of the Basic School English
Language examination, it was decided that Junior Secondary School I pupils
should be examined for prose in, inter
alia, the respondent’s novel.&nbsp; A
recommendation was therefore made that 450,000 copies of the respondent’s novel
at a unit cost of 20,000 cedis be ordered.&nbsp;
The respondent’s grievance was that the appellant had published a work
entitled “Gateway to English for Junior Secondary Schools Pupil’s Book 3”,
(hereinafter referred to as “Gateway”) which included, as Appendix 6, a
summary of the respondent’s novel.&nbsp; The
respondent averred that by including his work as Appendix 6 in its publication,
the appellant had in effect rendered the recommendation by the GES to purchase
450,000 co</main>