Integrating copyright awareness into art pedagogy in Ghana
The historical evolution of teaching and learning in the classroom reveals that the creation and use of art remains an integral aspect of education. During the time of prehistoric man, various forms of art were used in many ways to communicate, keep records and transmit information from generation to generation, when there were no written records and no texts were produced. The walls and ceilings of the caves, where prehistoric man lived, suggesting a classroom setting, were covered with paintings, mainly of game animals: bison, wild cattle, horses, and deer. The works of art made at that time were used by prehistoric men to teach and learn about their prey; identifying their basic traits and characteristics and also learning how to attack them. Through this, prehistoric man learned to culture himself, which is the essence of education. The relevance of this pedagogical culture is still seen today in the way art is used to teach various topics in class, to give clarity and meaning to what is taught, in the form of illustrations, drawings and sketches. When an art is used to teach and facilitate learning, it becomes a Knowledge Based Material (KBM).
Since the creation and ownership of knowledge-based materials (works of art) is related to the socio-economic development of an individual and a nation, copyright plays an important role in protecting the rights of the artist and of the user of the copyrighted work of art. Thus, copyright grants the artist the exclusive right to copy, reproduce, distribute, sell and authorize the use of the work. The law governing copyright also gives the user the right to use the artist’s work for non-commercial, non-profit purposes, without infringing the artist’s rights. In such cases, copyright awareness can mean knowing that copyright exists and being aware of it. Awareness of copyright is seen as fostering the optimal use of copyright by both artists and users of their works.
The essence of art as Knowledge Based Material can be seen in the teaching and learning of Art itself when it is taught and studied in class. It is obvious that the pedagogical approach to teaching and learning art in the classroom has also been using works of art in the form of illustrations, drawings and sketches for a long time. In this case, it is important to optimize copyright awareness to avoid copyright infringement. For example, a previous study reveals that, in most Ghanaian institutions where art is taught and studied, teachers and professors also employ the use of other people’s artwork such as illustrations, drawings and sketches etc., to teach their students and also perform other academic activities. obligations while students also rely heavily on understanding and using other people’s works to facilitate their learning.
Art is a field of study that trains and develops the human intellect, skills, and creativity for artistic creations. Such creations are often called works of art or art. Since art involves creations of the human mind, it is also considered a form of intellectual property. Like all property on land, it has a legal dimension as it is exposed to various types of human transgressions that constitute the violation of the fundamental rights of the artist. The creator of any work of art has moral and patrimonial rights over that work that must be protected from exploitation. The moral right of the artist explains the right that requires that the artist be recognized whenever the work is used. This is based on the principle that the artist’s name is synonymous with his work. Any modification, transformation and deformation may be an attempt to take away this right from the artist and to discredit his image. The patrimonial right of the artist grants him an exclusive and excluding right to benefit from the sale and use of his works. Although the economic right is transmissible, the moral right is not.
On the other hand, the problem of lack of copyright knowledge among students and artists exposes them and their works to many cases of copyright infringement. The atmosphere created here makes it ripe for many copyright infringement activities to continue that can appear to undermine creativity and originality. Unfortunately, there are people who take advantage of the ignorance of artists to exploit their works. Therefore, integrating copyright awareness into the modern way of teaching and learning art becomes very important in our modern world, where advanced technology has made it possible to copy and use works of art in many ways.
It is obvious that the creation and use of art today is becoming more sophisticated and a high level of skill is now required on the part of the artist to be able to produce works that fulfill their purpose. Historically, the purpose of instituting copyright is to recognize the challenging environment in which these works are produced and to reward the creators of such works of art for their time, labor, skills, and creativity invested in creating them. However, it is sad to note that institutions created to train artists to acquire the skills and creativity necessary to create works of art fail to equip students with the necessary copyright knowledge to protect their works from pirates and activities that undermine basic principles. rights to their works.