Musician fights GAPI over stolen album
Veteran Ghanaian Musician Paa Willie Ackun has
accused the Ghana Association of Phonogram Industries (GAPI) for selling his
creative works on the internet without his permission or knowledge.
Paa
Willie, who is the copyright owner of the ‘Set It Up Again’ album says the work
had been up for sale on electronic marketplace Amazon.com and other websites
for some time now though he has never signed any contract with those online
agencies.
The
aged musician said through investigations, he realized that GAPI, together with
an organization called Bach Technology had granted these online agencies
distribution rights to his musical works.
“When I
contacted Amazon, they referred me to the distributors- Phonofile, which has
offices in Europe and other parts of the world. I then contacted, Phonofile
where I was informed that GAPI, together with an organisation called Bach
Technology had granted them distribution rights for my copyrighted musical
works.
“They
then asked me to contact GAPI representatives, Mr. Francis Twum and Mr.
Jonathan Cudjoe for further information on the matter. Upon further
investigations on the internet, I realized GAPI had been named as the copyright
owner of my album on the Amazon site,” Paa Willie told BEATWAVES in an
interview.
According
Mr Akun, GAPI had received huge sums of money for several works albums from
various Ghanaian musicians without their consent they had assigned to
Phonofile.
“This
is a very serious matter and all the organizations involved in this violation
of my copyrights have caused severe financial loss to me and must be brought to
book, especially GAPI the Ghanaian body that illegally assigned my rights
without my permission, and the main cause of the problem. I am totally
dissatisfied with the explanation given me by Mr. Francis Twum.
The
actions of GAPI amount to a blatant infringement of my legal rights, done
without my express permission and consent. I have all the documents to prove
that I am the sole copyright owner of the musical album ‘Set It Up Again’ by
Paa Willie and the Scroll,” he said.
The
musician, who felt cheated, has since reported the issue to the Veteran
Musicians Association of Ghana (VEMAG), the Professional Musicians Association
of Ghana (PROMAG) and Ghana Music Rights Organization (GHAMRO) as he waits for
the next line of action from his lawyers.
