Nigerian actress Iyabo Ojo has ignited a fresh controversy over intellectual property rights in West African entertainment, publicly accusing a Ghanaian television station of airing her newly released film without permission, payment, or licensing agreements. The accusation comes barely 21 hours after the actress premiered the final episode of her movie, The Memory of You, a timing that underscores the brazen nature of the alleged infringement and highlights persistent challenges facing African filmmakers in protecting their creative works.
Ojo, who released the film on Friday at 5pm, took to Instagram on Saturday afternoon to call out NETV and other stations she claims are engaged in similar practices. In a forceful statement, she described the unauthorized broadcast as pure theft and made a direct appeal to Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama to revoke or suspend the broadcasting license of stations violating copyright law. Her message reflected the growing frustration among content creators who invest substantial resources in production only to see their work exploited without compensation. The actress emphasized that filmmakers pour their lives, money, and years into their craft, only to have piracy undermine their investments and creativity across the industry.
The actress specifically invoked Ghana’s Copyright Act of 2005, known as Act 690, calling on authorities including the National Film Authority and the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture to enforce existing legal protections. Her appeal was not framed as a request for special treatment but as a demand for what she characterized as rightfully owed to creators: respect and protection for intellectual property. The language of her statement suggests mounting exasperation within the creative community over what many see as inadequate enforcement of copyright protections despite the existence of comprehensive legal frameworks.
The timing of Ojo’s complaint is particularly significant given that the Ghana National Film Authority had announced plans just one week earlier to crack down on television stations broadcasting Nigerian films without proper authorization. That announcement included warnings that stations airing unauthorized content could face license suspension or revocation, creating expectations of stricter enforcement. Ojo’s public call for action appears designed to test whether authorities will follow through on these warnings or whether they will remain merely symbolic gestures that fail to deter ongoing infringement.
The incident highlights broader tensions within West Africa’s entertainment ecosystem, where porous borders, shared languages, and overlapping aunces create both opportunities and challenges for content creators. Nigerian cinema, particularly the prolific Nollywood industry, enjoys enormous popularity across the continent, making Nigerian productions attractive programming for broadcasters seeking to fill airtime affordably. However, when stations opt to air content without proper licensing, they deprive creators of revenue streams essential to sustaining production and undermine the economic viability of the entire creative sector. Jobs are lost, investment dries up, and the incentive to produce quality content diminishes when piracy goes unchecked.
As the controversy unfolds, attention will focus on whether Ghanaian authorities respond to Ojo’s appeal with concrete action or whether this becomes another case of creative workers raising alarms that go unanswered. The outcome could set an important precedent for intellectual property enforcement across West Africa and signal whether regional governments are serious about supporting their creative industries or content to let them be undermined by unauthorized distribution. For filmmakers watching closely, the response to this case may determine whether they continue investing in expensive productions or whether they conclude that inadequate copyright protection makes such investments financially untenable. Ojo’s decision to escalate the matter publicly and invoke presidential authority suggests she believes quiet diplomatic channels have failed, leaving public pressure as the only remaining tool to compel action.
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