GERARD NARTEY V. MULTIMEDIA GROUP LTD

JUDGMENT

F.G. ADANU, JA: 

1.0 General Overview

This appeal emanates from the decision of the High Court dated  29/07/2024. It examines the extent to which commercial media companies  in Ghana can resort to the use of the professional images of photographers  on social media platforms citing ‘permitted use’ as a defence under the  Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690). 

My Lords, given the facts presented in this appeal and the question for our  determination, I respectfully commence my opinion with the statement  from a book written by Lionel Bentley and Brad Sherman, Intellectual  Property Law: (5th edn, Oxford University Press 2018) 246-249: 

“Where fair dealing is invoked by profit-seeking entities, courts scrutinise  the claim with particular care, mindful of the risk of uncompensated  commercial exploitation.” 

The statement above found expression in the UK case of Ashdown v.  Telegraph Group Ltd [2001] 4 AII ER 666 where the Court of Appeal  reiterated that public interest and context matter,…