MUSIGA To Lose Ownership Of Ghana Music Week?

President of MUSIGA Bice Osei Kuffour Call it an issue of oversight or perhaps misplacement of priority and you could not be far from right. But whatever your pick, it is worth stating that Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), the umbrella body for musicians in Ghana, has to prove its control over the first ever week long musical festival held a couple of weeks ago, or lose its ownership to another party. It was revealed on Peace FM’s “Entertainment Review” Saturday April 20 edition that in spite of the fact that MUSIGA introduced, publicised and organised the maiden edition of Ghana Music Week (GMW), which was put together by three parties; Musicbiz Limited, Yendis Media Consultancy Limited and MUSIGA, the name of the event has not been registered. Host of the show, Kwasi Aboagye, claimed he had in his possession a certificate from the Registrar Generals Department with the name Ghana Music Week registered as a company and a music festival with two directors. Kwasi revealed further that the two directors are not executives of MUSIGA and they are not part of the other two parties adding however that they are both known people in the music industry in Ghana. From his disclosure, it appears the registration was done after the GMW which started from March 4 and ended on March 10 2013. Even though he refused to mention the names of the two directors, he promised to reveal it on the Saturday April 27 2013 edition of the program and invite the two directors in the studio to confirm their ownership of the well-publicised Ghana Music Week which brought together over 50 musicians from Ghana and other countries and honoured individuals who have contributed to the development of Ghanaian music. Peacefmonline.com has confirmed from the Registrar Department that indeed Ghana Music Week does exist in their registration books thus no other party can register a company in that name. We can also confirm that recent attempts to do so were fiercely resisted, though it is unclear whether the resistance was from the three parties group or from two new directors group. Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer for MUSIGA, Okyeame Kwame speaking on the show said he has no idea whether the name of the music festival has been registered or not. MUSIGA’s current dilemma has got the industry talking with some arguing that if the musicians group truly did not register the name first then it may possibly lose the entire ownership of the event because they can’t show any official documentary evidence, while some believe as far as MUSIGA is the known organiser or the main body behind the maiden edition, they can claim ownership with video footages, posters, Billboards, radio jingles, TV commercials, media reports among other things. Some legal practitioners who spoke to Peacefmonline.com have all argued this is a very tricky case and it can go either way depending on how both present their case. They also did not rule out the possibility of this matter ending in court if the parties involved refuse to come to a compromise. If this goes to court, it would be a great case study and definitely be written in the country’s history books, but for now the big question is, “WHO OWNS Ghana Music Week?