The current craze of lookalikes for literally all the top-rated musicians in Ghana has become an issue of concern in entertainment circles.
While some people claim that it is not a big deal because these guys are supposedly having just fun by granting various interviews and even playing shows, another section of the industry believes it is utterly wrong for these guys to be doing this.
The concerns raised by the latter group above were put to a lawyer during Joy FM Twitter space on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, night.
The host of the space, Kwame Dadzie asked Lawyer Bobby Benson if there were any laws in Ghana that frown on the activities of these lookalikes and the manner they have been parading themselves on social media in the last few months.
According to Lawyer Benson, there is a Constitutional instrument which is labeled as the Unfair Competition Act which can be used by these artists who feel that these lookalikes have been using their names to make money illegal or trying to get some mileage from their hard-earned brands.
Lawyer Benson also mentioned that there is also the common law of Passing Off which can be used to make the argument in court that these lookalikes have been using the image of these top acts to deceive their followers to cause them to lose some money.
READ ALSO: Dope Nation laments about being bullied in the industry
He was however quick to add that in these cases, the burden of proof will lie on the artists who take the case to court and as such, they would have to gather substantial evidence before they proceed.
When Kwame Dadzie asked him if these acts would still have a case in court should in case these lookalikes add ‘Junior’ to their names or changed the spellings of the names while maintaining the same pronunciation, the lawyer answered in the affirmative and added that the court takes note of the phonetic pronunciation of these names too.
Listen to the audio below for more…
