Accra-Ghana, July 13, GNA – The National Folklore Board (NFB) has urged the populace to seek permission from the Board before using expressions of folklore outside the customary context and or for commercial purposes.
It said all commercial users of Ghanaian expressions of folklore must pick up folklore user application forms from the NFB office to be given the requisite permission.
“In alternative, you can send a written request for application form to info@folkloreboardghana.org.”
Ghana’s folklore includes music, dance, art, design, names, signs and symbols, performances, ceremonies, architectural forms, handicrafts and narratives and any other artistic or cultural expression originating from and or associated with Ghana.
In a release issued to the Ghana News Agency, on Thursday, in Accra, the Board said the Copyright Act, 2005, ACT 690 specified that the rights in folklore were vested in the President on behalf of and in trust for the people of the Republic.
It said the Act also stated that a person who sought to use folklore outside the scope permitted by Section 19 of the Act must seek permission from the National Folklore Board.
The statement said personal use, news reportage and use for educational purposes did not require permission.
“The personal use of Ghanaian folklore and or use within the customary context does not require permission from the Board. For instance, use of proverbs by Ghanaian musicians in a song or sale of Kente cloth for a living.”
The release said according to section 44 of the Copyright Act 2005 ‘Act 690’, a person who sold, offered or exposed for sale or distribution a work of folklore without permission from the Board committed an offence and liable upon summary conviction to a maximum fine of 1000 penalty units equivalent to GHC 12,000 and or imprisonment for a maximum of three 3 years, or both.
