FORMATION OF COLLECTIVE ADMINISTRATION ASSOCIATIONS
GHAMRO, as a collective administration association is regulated by the provisions of the Copyright Regulations 2010, LI 1962. The regulations provide that all collective administration associations can only operate after the approval of the Minister for Justice.
Regulation 20 of LI 1962 states as follows
“(1) A person shall not operate a Collective Administration Society without the approval of the Minister in writing.
(2) Where a society operates in furtherance of copyright and related rights without approval, each member of the governing body of the society and every director, manager, secretary or similar officer of the society is deemed to have committed the offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than one hundred and fifty penalty units or imprisonment to a term of not more than twelve months or to both”.
Regulation 21 of LI 1962 states the contents of an application for the creation of a collective administration society. Under Regulation 21, an application by a society to be a collective administration association, must indicate the following;
- The name of the society
- Whether or not the society is registered as a company.
- The type of right the society intends to administer, be it music; performers rights; audio-visual; or literary rights
- The membership of the society
- The address of the society’s registered office
The application must be sent together with the payment of a fee to be determined by the Minister of Justice. The minister on receipt of the application shall grant the approval provided the society can fulfil the conditions antecedent to the grant of approval. Regulation 23 of LI 1962 states as follows:
“The Minister shall not grant approval for a society to operate unless that society
- is a body corporate registered as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act, 1963 (Act 179),
- if it is a music, audio-visual rights, performers rights or literary rights society, provides evidence of having functional presence in at least two regions as follows:
- keeps a national and regional register and provides evidence of these registers,
- provides, evidence where
(i) the society is a music rights or performers rights society that it has at least twenty members in each of the regions in which it has a functional, or
(ii) the society is a literary rights or audio-visuals rights society, that it has at least fifty members at the national level,
and each member has at least one published work or holds the entire economic rights on one published work.”
Regulation 22 (4) of LI 1926 provides that the Minister shall communicate his approval or refusal of an application within 21 days of receipt of an application. The approval once granted is for a period of 5 years and renewable every five years.
A collective administrative society when properly formed has the following powers as stated in Regulation 29 of LI 1962. These are:
- receive royalties and other moneys to which its members are entitled,
- take measures that the society considers appropriate for the collection of royalties and any payments to which members of the society are entitled,
- enforce the rights of its members by
- entering into contract, and
- reviewing contracts in respect of works of its members,
- either acting alone or with other appropriate institutions
- seize works which infringe the rights of its members,
- cause the arrest of persons who infringe the rights of its members, and
- institute legal action against persons who infringe the rights of its members.
By: Kwabena Frimpong Mensah Esq and Adwoa E Paintsil Esq