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,…