Nigerian actress and filmmaker, Omoni Oboli
Nigerian actress and filmmaker Omoni Oboli has joined the growing list of Nollywood stars raising concerns over the unauthorised use of their intellectual property by some Ghanaian media houses.
In a strongly worded Instagram post, the Nigerian filmmaker condemned the illegal airing of her recently released film, “Twin Deception,” by some particular television stations in Ghana.
According to Omoni Oboli, her film, which premiered on her official YouTube channel on a Friday, was aired on a Ghanaian TV station the very same day without her consent.
Omoni Oboli’s comment comes shortly after her fellow Nollywood filmmaker Bimbo Ademoye also called out Ghanaian stations for a similar infringement on copyright and intellectual property in Ghana’s media space.
“I love my Ghanaian besties. I really do. Ghanaians are our cousins and cousins don’t fight. We banter but at the end of the day, it’s all love. You see this issue of terrestrial Ghanaian TV stations showing our movies, it’s utterly shameful,” she wrote.
Omoni Oboli revealed that the piracy of her movie was not an isolated case, noting that she had been working quietly with some Ghanaian authorities to curb the menace.
However, she stated that now she is compelled to take a public stance, as the copyright situation appears to be worsening.
“It was my birthday yesterday and I was having a chilled day at home so I didn’t want to address this. The truth is, I have been working behind the scenes with some Ghanaian agencies to end this menace once and for all but now it’s quite obvious that some people don’t even understand that it’s actual theft,” she shared.
She further rejected the notion by media personality Miz Debbie that airing her film without authorisation serves as a form of promotion, rather she called it outright theft.
“You are not promoting my film if you rip it off my YouTube channel (without licensing and permission) and show it on your TV station. You are stealing from me for your own personal gain. Do you get it now? There’s no world in which that is a good thing. It’s actually punishable by law,” she added.
Omoni Oboli went further to appeal to President John Dramani Mahama, whom she tagged in her post, calling on him to intervene in what she described as a growing embarrassment that is gaining international attention.
“So, since it’s gotten to this stage, I believe Mr President, with all due respect sir, it’s time to weigh in. This has become an international embarrassment,” she stated.
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