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.