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Creating Capital From Culture - Re-Thinking The Provisions On Expressions Of Folklore In Ghana's Copyright Law, Gertrude Torkornoo

Annual Survey of International & Comparative Law

This paper examines three tensions created by the manner in which Ghana’s TCEs are regulated under the Copyright Act. The first tension is the divergence between the context of private rights and communally created works. While one of the fundamental principles of copyright law is to reward specific and identifiable sources of creativity, Act 690 grants copyright in communally created art. There is also divergence between the usual designated duration of copyright and the antiquated nature of most expressions of folklore, including kente and adinkra expressions.

The second tension arises from the fact that the placement of copyright in Ghana’s …