Alhaji Sidiku Buari, President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), has appealed to the International Federation of Musicians to assist third world countries to fight piracy. Speaking at the Presidium meeting of the Federation in New York, USA, Alhaji Buari who is also Vice President of the Federation said some people were taking advantage of musicians in the third world to exploit them of their intellectual property.

Alhaji Buari said piracy over the years had become a major problem of musicians and producers and this had been made worse by the downloading of musical works on the Internet and latest technologies like I POD and MP3 thereby impoverishing musicians and producers. He said the music industry offered a big source of employment for the youth of Africa and no effort should be spared to protect this all important source of livelihood.

Alhaji Buari suggested a means to codify musical compositions through which nobody could pirate without the knowledge of the owner of the intellectual property.

He reiterated that the time had come for the educational authorities in the third world to make the study of music an important subject on the school curriculum.

Alhaji Buari recommended the use of live band music not only to introduce professionalism into the music industry, but also to create jobs for as many unemployed youth as possible.

He extended an invitation to all Presidium members to join Ghanaians in celebrating the country's 50th independence anniversary celebration, to which they readily agreed.

The General Secretary of the Federation Benoit Machuel said contrary to what most people thought, an overwhelming number of performers could hardly make ends meet.

He said they had no social status and no benefit to claim between one engagement and the other, noting that "Any additional profit from work they may have done long ago is a benefit they value".

Mr Tom Lee, President of the American and Canadian Federation of Musicians described piracy as a universal problem that needed to be tackled, saying efforts were underway to rectify the situation.

The President of the Federation and General Secretary of the British Musicians Union Mr John Smith said the reservations expressed by the majority of the Presidium members would be taken into account by a distinct instrument.

He said computer networks and related technologies raised numerous questions to which few people today could provide an answer.