Kirani Ayat: Musician doubles down on copyright claim following GTA explanation
Ghanaian musician Kirani Ayat has reiterated that his work was used without his permission or credit to advertise the country to tourists following an explanation by the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA).
Ayat first raised concerns about the use of his Guda music video when it was shared by the Twitter handle of President Nana Akufo-Addo yesterday.
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According to him, he reached out to the Ministry of Tourism for support before shooting the said music video but he was turned down.
The video was shot in northern Ghana and features the local culture.
On Tuesday Ayat tweeted: "The President of Ghana has used my video 'Guda' in this ad to promote Ghana. I was actively reaching out to the Ministry of Tourism in 2018/19 to use this video to push tourism in the North and got no reply, yet today it’s in an ad and no one reached out to me for permission," he wrote.
Scenes from the musician's video featuring women posing on top of a giant tree and others dancing have been featured in the tourism advert.
Kirani said he worked a 12-hour shift as a security guard for seven days over a three-month period to save money for the video production costs.
"I reached out a couple of times to no avail. I was depressed throughout that period," the musician tweeted.
The president of Ghana has used my video “GUDA” in this ad to promote Ghana. I was actively reaching out to the Ministry of Tourism in 2018/19 to use this video to push tourism in the North and got NO reply, yet today it’s in an ad and no one reached out to me for permission. ߤ榺wj;♂️ https://t.co/vLnAP0bRqf
— Kirani Ayat ߌ�@KiraniAYAT) September 27, 2022
GTA explanation
Responding to the musician's concerns in a statement, the GTA said the footage was acquired legitimately from a creative agency in 2019.
However, the GTA said it had contacted the agency to deal with the matter.
"This video has thus been played severally locally and internationally without any issue. The content was used in accordance with the terms agreed with the agency and not as being alleged," the GTA said.
"According to Clause 2 (b) of the MOU signed with the Agency (Obligations: Responsibility of the Agency), the Agency was to "Deliver imaginative and impactful social strategies, such as content or documentaries for the use of GTA as it so wishes. Agency delivered the content to the Authority, and the Authority used the content in accordance with the terms of the MOU.
"The above notwithstanding, since the Authority became aware of the tweet from @KiraniAYAT, we have reached out to the Agency to deal with the matter. This is without prejudice to any legal options available to the Authority against the Artiste and/or Agency or vice versa," the statement said.
My response to the @ghanatourismGTA ⬇️ https://t.co/tRqvOWx8OQ pic.twitter.com/0a7vwbE1ID
— Kirani Ayat ߌ�@KiraniAYAT) September 28, 2022
Doubling-down
In a response to the GTA's statement, Kirani Ayat in a statement said no agency has any rights to his "intellectual property".
He also urged the GTA to name and direct the agency to produce documents to show that he had an agreement with them.
"I have NOT given rights to any agency to use my likeness or work on my behalf. As such, there is no agency agreement, and I find it telling that the name of this supposed agency was not revealed in the statement," Ayat posted on Twitter.
"Likewise, the Ghana Tourism Authority has also NOT been given any right to use my video in any of their promotional materials. As an independent artist and SOLE owner of the video used in the "visit Ghana" Ad campaign
"I have NO agreement with any government or private entity to use my intellectual property. The agency in question needs to be named, and signed documents made publically available that demonstrate clearly when, where and under whose authority the supposed agreement was signed".
