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Librarians want in on copyright
issues
Accra, Nov. 13, Ghanadot/GNA - Mrs Valentina Bannerman,
President of the Ghana Library Association, has appealed to
government to consider the participation of librarians in
any national and international forum where copyright issues
are discussed in order to make their voices heard.
"There would be a National Policy Dialogue Seminar very soon
where research findings and recommendations on intellectual
property in the country would be presented to government; we
librarians would like to be on the board which will receive
the recommendations," she said.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Annual General
Meeting of the Ghana Library Association on Thursday, she
called for balanced use of copyright since the restrictive
type threatened the core of their business by making
information available to those who might need them.
"Sometimes we librarians have to digitise or turn an
author's book into brails for the blind to benefit. ...but
how can we do that when the current copyright law does not
allow it?”
She noted that the choice of the theme for the congress,
which is "Copyright, Information and Education” was
appropriate because copyright had been an issue for
discussions for several years without much intervention from
librarians.
"Mention copyrights today and everyone thinks about
musicians and rights holders who feel exploited...now is the
time for librarians and other information professional to
make an input and let their voices be heard."
Mrs Bannerman called for the setting up of a National
Commission of Library to oversee the various types of
libraries in the country and the introduction of balanced
copyrights since restrictive copyright laws threatened the
core of their business by making information available to
users.
She also urged the government not to extend the term of
protection of copyright any further from the normal 50 years
after an author's death since that would elongate one's
access to their works.
Mr Joe Ghartey, Minister of Justice and Attorney General,
called for the protection of intellectual property in order
for the owners to benefit.
He thanked the Ghana Library Association for its interest in
the protection of intellectual property and called for the
changes in laws dealing with copyright to include
librarians.
The Minister promised to include all the concerns of the
Association in his handing over notes to the next government
for them to be addressed.
GNA
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