On any regular day, a Ghanaian flipping through TV channels is likely to come across movies—mostly from Hollywood or Nollywood.

The goal for these TV stations is to entertain people and keep them watching. But some of these broadcasts may actually be breaking the law.

Not long ago, popular Nigerian actress and filmmaker Bimbo Ademoye took to social media to accuse several Ghanaian TV stations of showing her movies without asking for her permission.

After her post gained attention, Ghana’s Minister of Communication, Digital Technology and Innovation, Sam George, and the Executive Secretary of the National Film Authority, Kafui Danku-Pitcher, promised to act quickly and fix the issue.

But not everyone is on Bimbo’s side.

TV personality and body confidence advocate Miz Debbie believes that showing Bimbo’s movies on Ghanaian TV is actually helping her by giving her more publicity, and she should be happy about it.

But this issue isn’t new. Other Nigerian movie makers like Omoni Oboli and Ruth Kadiri have also complained in the past that their films were aired in Ghana without their approval.

This brings up a big question: Is it against the law to show someone’s movie on TV without asking them first? Or is it just free advertisement?

To clear things up, GhanaWeb spoke to a lawyer who understands copyright issues well—Emmanuel Kantam Duut—for his expert take.

“It’s a total infringement of the copyright of the producers. It’s very clear. Before you can air someone’s movie, there are specific rules regarding the broadcasting of copyrighted works,” Duut said.

What the law actually says

Under Ghana’s Copyright Law, TV stations must first get permission from the people who own the rights to a movie before showing it on air—whether the movie is made in Ghana or another country.

If they don’t ask for permission, they’re breaking the law and can be taken to court or even face criminal charges.

Duut explained, “Especially once the person has expended resources in coming up with that movie, permission has to be sought before airing those movies because these television stations have airplay royalties or the television royalties.

“Because anytime an individual screens (a film), they are expected to make some money out of it, especially with their social media pages. Now that these television stations even have social media pages and all of that, it constitutes a blatant disregard of the copyright of these movie producers.”

The role of the National Film Authority

The NFA, the statutory body responsible for regulating the Ghanaian film industry, has echoed these sentiments.

In a 2024 directive, the Authority reminded all terrestrial channels and media houses that films are protected works under Ghanaian copyright law.

It stated that Copyright owners hold exclusive rights to how their works are used and media houses must obtain licences or authorisation before airing such works.

“It is important to note that movies or films constitute protected copyright works under Ghanaian law, and as such, the creator/copyright owner of the movie or film holds exclusive rights to the usage of the movie or film.

“Accordingly, any terrestrial channel owner or media house that intends to broadcast/air a movie or film to its viewers must obtain the requisite authorisation or licence from the creator/copyright owner of the movie or film. Broadcasting/airing a movie or film without authorisation from the creator/copyright owner constitutes a copyright infringement, which attracts both civil and criminal liabilities,” a letter issued by the NFA in 2024 said.

The “Promotion” argument

One common defence by those accused of airing films without permission is the claim that they are "promoting" the filmmaker’s work.

But Duut strongly disagrees.

“It's a very cheap way of buying your rights or your licence to air the movie,” Duut replied.

He said producers already have marketing budgets to promote their films through trailers and targeted platforms.

“The producers themselves have a marketing or a distributor who would be able to handle that. Most of these producers have their own distributors and marketers to promote their movies. They already have trailers or excerpts of the movie and air them on social media so that a lot of people will later come to watch the full movie on YouTube,” he stated.

Therefore, if a TV station genuinely intends to promote a movie, it should air trailers or excerpts, not the full film without proper authorisation.

Some key points from the NFA

In its 2024 directive, the National Film Authority (NFA) issued clear instructions to all terrestrial channel owners and media houses, asking them to:

"Conduct comprehensive assessments of all movies or films currently being broadcast on their platforms.

"Verify that the necessary authorisations or licences have been obtained from the respective copyright holders for each film.

"Immediately cease broadcasting any movie or film for which proper authorisation has not been secured until such authorisation is obtained."