The creative agency at the centre of the ongoing feud between the Ghana Tourism Authority and Kirani Ayat, SAMSAL Company Limited has reacted to the copyright claims made by the musician.
In a statement, the agency revealed that the video they submitted to the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) for the campaign is not what is being circulated.
The agency indicated that they did not grant permission to GTA to put the video out and the video wasn’t the one they created.
“We put together a video reel (“mood board”) which we showed to the GTA as inspiration and creative direction for the videos we intended to produce during the campaign. The mood board was a mash-up of scenes from different videos including the video for Ayat’s “GUDA” and other videos shot by David Nicol-Sey, a fellow creative who we have worked with on several campaigns (and who directed the campaign video for Discovery Bands).
For the avoidance of doubt, the video which the President and the GTA have put in circulation is not the mood board we created. It contains snippet from the mood board. However, we never authorized the GTA to publish the mood board or any scenes from it. The signed MoU was explicit that our delivery obligations related to new content which would be financed by the GTA”, excerpt of the statement read.
ALSO READ: ‘We acquired the video legitimately’ -GTA replies Kirani Ayat on copyright claims
Read full statement below;
ALSO READ: Musician Kirani Ayat reports President Akufo-Addo for copyright breach
This comes after Ghanaian musician Kirani Ayat accused President Akufo-Addo of using his intellectual property to promote Ghana to tourists without their consent or giving him due credit.
Kirani Ayat claimed he asked the government for assistance before filming his Guda music video but his request was denied.
The video, which was produced in northern Ghana, highlights the local culture and includes beautiful scenery.
In response to this claim, the GTA dispelled Kirani’s allegations and indicated that they obtained the video legitimately.
