Copyright is one of the easiest and best ways to protect software under the Copyright Act of Ghana. Copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to make copies of their original creative work.
The primary goal of copyright is to protect the time, effort and creativity of the creator. Due to this, unlike other forms of intellectual property protection, a creator does not need to copyright his original work in order to be afforded copyright protection. Original works are afforded automatic copyright protection, and direct permission from the author/creator will be required for use whether or not they have copyrighted their works.
A person who infringes on any copyrighted work of another will be liable to a fine of between GHs6,000 to GHs 12,000 or to term of imprisonment of not more than three years or to both. The infringer can also be subject to a civil suit.
Remember what we said about automatic copyright protection? Now get to work on tracing the author to get that permission! It’s not optional.