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Ghana audiovisual copyright rights, ownership rules and registration steps

Sources checked 11 November 2026

Rights and registrationFrom an audiovisual work to a registration certificate

The steps distinguish underlying rights, an application and the two statutory processing stages.

The table uses the Act and regulations for legal provisions and the Film Authority’s own guidance for its content-registration form.

			Source
Eligible work	Act 690, section 1	Audiovisual work is an eligible category. The Act specifies originality, fixation and applicable connections to Ghana or treaty protection.	Source 1
Economic rights	Act 690, section 5	The Act lists acts such as reproduction, adaptation, broadcasting and first distribution among the rights of authors.	Source 1
Moral rights	Act 690, section 6	The Act covers attribution and certain harmful changes to a work.	Source 1
Commissioned work	Act 690, section 7	The default economic right vests in the employer or commissioning party for work made within the employment or commission, unless a contract says otherwise.	Source 1
Copyright Office application	Regulations 1 and 2	The author, authorised agent or producer or publisher on the author’s behalf can apply. Deposit and fee rules apply.	Source 3
Eligibility decision	Regulation 3(1)	The Copyright Administrator has two weeks after receipt to determine eligibility and inform the applicant in writing.	Source 3
Registration certificate	Regulation 3(2)	If eligible, the certificate is due within two weeks after the applicant is informed.	Source 3
Audiovisual economic rights term	Act 690 as amended, section 15	The provision sets a 70-year period and specifies which dates apply when the work is made available with consent.	Source 2
Film Authority content registration	National Film Authority application guidance	The Film Authority has a separate process for rights holders to submit information about audiovisual content.	Source 4

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