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Collins, Stephen (2015) the Commoditisation of Culture: Folklore, Playwriting and Copyright in Ghana

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Collins, Stephen (2015) the Commoditisation of Culture: Folklore, Playwriting and Copyright in Ghana Collins, Stephen (2015) The commoditisation of culture: folklore, playwriting and copyright in Ghana. PhD thesis. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/6263/ . Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] The Commoditisation of Culture: Folklore, Playwriting and Copyright in Ghana Stephen Collins BA(hons), MPhil Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Law College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow April 2015 Abstract In this thesis I consider the interface between copyright law and cultural practice. I argue that the protection of folklore through copyright obfuscates the status of folklore as a generative resource for derivative works in favour of its status as a carrier of national identity, over which states can exercise property rights. Specifically, I analyse the significance of folklore within the playwriting culture of Ghana and discuss how, within this specific context, the introduction of the 2005 Copyright Act (which requires nationals to seek permission and pay a fee to use folklore), rather than incentivising artists to create derivative works from folklore, significantly disrupts the ability of playwrights to continue to create work that reflects the codified theatrical practice established in Ghana post independence. As such, the Ghana Copyright Act, 2005 threatens to jeopardise the fundamental balance in copyright between protection and access, and so the purpose of copyright as a mechanism for incentivising artists. Through exploring the development of the relationship between folklore and copyright and how protection for folklore interacts at the international, continental and sub-regional levels, this thesis examines both the potential impact of the copyright law in Ghana and the efficacy of protecting folklore through a copyright paradigm at all. ! ! i! Contents Introduction................................................................................................................1 Ghana.………………………………………………………….…………..…6 Play texts………………………………………………………..………….....7 Folklore……………………………………………………….….……….....10 Copyright…………………………………………………....…….……..….13 A Comparison of Ghana’s 1985 and 2005 Copyright Acts……….…...........17 The need for protection of folklore………………………………….………22 Research Methodology……………………………………...………............24 Structure……………………………………………………………….…….25 Chapter 1: Attempts to develop an international standard for the copyright protection of folklore (1967-2014).....................................................29 Introduction…………………………………………………...………….....29 Methodology…………………………………………………...……….......31 1.1. The international protection of folklore…………………...…...............32 1.1.1. Stockholm Revisions (1967): the inclusion of protection for “unpublished works” in the Berne Convention...……...........32 1.1.2. The Bolivian Request (1973)…………………………….......38 1.1.3. The Tunis Model Law (1976)………………...……………..39 1.1.4. The 1982 Model Provisions Against Illicit Exploitation and Other Prejudicial Actions……………………………………43 1.1.5. UNESCO Recommendation on the Safeguarding of Traditional Culture and Folklore (1989)…………………………………46 1.1.6. The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT),1996………………………………...……………...49 1.1.7. WIPO-UNESCO World Forum on the Protection of Folklore, Phuket, 1997…………………………………………………50 1.1.8. WIPO Fact-Finding Missions (1998/99)……………………..51 ! ii! 1.2. Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore working papers (2001 – 2014)……………………....…...…………………......…..…………..54 1.3. Regional Treaties and sub-regional norms………………......………..64 1.3.1. Regional Treaties…………………………………...……….64 1.3.1.1. The Bangui Agreement (1999)…………..…..…....65 1.3.1.2: The Swakopmund Protocol………………..……....67 1.3.2. Sub Regional statutes…………………………………..……69 1.3.2.1. Anglophone states………………………….....…...70 1.3.2.2. Francophone states……………………………......73 Conclusion: does Ghana’s copyright protection for folklore exceed regional treaties and sub-regional norms?.................................................................76 Chapter 2: The Cultural Utility of Folklore in Post-independence Ghana……………………………………………………………………………....79 Introduction……………………………………………………………..….79 Background: folklore in colonial-era plays…………………………….…..80 Methodology………………………………………………………………...83 2.1. Anansesem, Anasegoro and The Marriage of Anansewa……………....84 2.1.1. The Mboguo………………………………………………….87 2.1.2. The Storyteller…………………………………………….....90 2.1.3. Kweku Ananse…………………………………………….....92 2.2. Researching anansegoro…………………………………………................93 2.2.1. The Kodzidan of Ekumfi Atwia…………………………......94 2.3. The influence of anansegoro………………………………………………..97 2.3.1. The Story Ananse Told (1987)………………………….........99 2.3.2. Ananse in the Land of Idiots (1994)………………………..100 2.3.3. Ananse’s Last (2014)……………………………………….101 ! iii! 2.4. Codification of folklore in Ghanaian theatre: anansegoro to abibigoro…………………………………………………………….102 Conclusion: anansegoro and copyright…………………………………....107 Chapter 3: The Political Utility of Folklore in Post-independence Ghana…………………………...………………………………………………...113 Introduction………………...……………………………………………...113 Methodology…………………………………………………………….....115 3.1. The changing agency of folklore……………………………………...116 3.1.1. The status of “folk-lore” during the colonial period…...…...117 3.1.2. Political economy of folklore during the ‘Scramble for Africa’ (1885-1914)………………………………………………………..119 3.1.3. Folklore and Negritude…………………………………............122 3.2. WIPO and UNESCO and the conflation of folklore with national identity……………………………………………………………….124 3.2.1. Copyright, national identity and folklore…………………..124 3.3. Folklore and the development of Ghana’s post independence theatre industry………………………………………………………………128 3.3.1. The National Theatre Movement: The role of the state in establishing Ghana’s theatre industry and encouraging the use of folklore……………………………………….................130 3.3.2. Nkrumah and Sutherland: Sutherland’s role in establishing folklore as a central pillar of Ghanaian playwriting post independence……………………………………………….134 3.4. Political utility of folklore in Rawlings’ Ghana (1981-1991).…...........140 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………143 Chapter 4: The Debate in Ghana: ‘the lawyers’ and ‘the artists’…..………..146 Introduction……………………………………………………..………...146 Methodology……………………………………………....…..……….....148 4.1.The Artists’ position……………………………………...…………...149 4.2. The lawyer’s position…………………………………...……………152 ! iv! 4.2.1. The ‘Berne Argument’………………………..……………153 4.2.2 What are the principles of non-discrimination, national treatment and substantive minima?.....................................................154 4.2.3. How national treatment applies to the protection of folklore………………………………………………….....159 4.2.4. Further factors that contribute to the view of folklore as state property in Ghana……………………………………….....166 4.3. Why the act has the potential to disincentive to artists…………..…...171 4.3.1. Payment requirements in Regional Instruments……............176 Conclusion....………………………………………………………………179 Chapter 5: Conclusion.……………………………………………………..........182 5.1. Copyright, folklore and playwriting in Ghana………………………..182 5.2. Beyond Ghana: the consistent incompatibilities between folklore and copyright……………………………………………………………..189 Appendix A: List of Interviews …………………………………………………195 Appendix B: Ghana copyright law comparison table………………….............201 Appendix C: List of African States that include protection for folklore within their Copyright statutes…………………………………………………….……204 Appendix D: West African Anglophone states’ copyright law comparison table……………………………………………………………………………….208 Appendix E: West African Francophone states’ copyright law comparison table……………………………………………………………………………….216 Appendix F: List of Ghanaian languages and Ethnologic Map of Ghana……………………………………………………………………………...221 Appendix G: Ghanaian Heads of State………………………………………….223 Bibliography…………………………………………………………...………….225 ! v! Acknowledgments There are several people without whom this thesis would not have been possible. I would like to thank all those in Ghana who generously gave their time to be interviewed. Particularly, Professor John Collins and Ben Nyadzie of the Ghana Copyright Office; both were candid, passionate and immensely helpful. Thanks also to my many Ghanaian friends, particularly at the Jamestown Community Theatre, who helped me secure interviews and hosted me so generously. I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Ronan Deazley and Asst. Professor Katie Gough, for their guidance, patience and perseverance. Thanks also to the College of Social Sciences for its financial support, without which this research could not have been undertaken. Finally, I am indebted to my wife Maryam and daughter Vida, for the joy and context that changing nappies and walks in the park bring. ! vi! Author’s Declaration I declare that, except where explicit
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