Published: April 8, 2026
MONROVIA — Liberia’s creative sector is in open revolt against a new government licensing regime, with artists, musicians, content creators and entertainment executives demanding to know why they are being asked to pay into a system that has never paid them back.
By Gibson Gee and Alphanso G. Kalama
The pushback targets a nationwide Registration, Inspection, Classification and Star Rating exercise launched April 7 by the Liberia National Tourism Authority in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Running through May 7, 2026, the exercise introduced mandatory annual licensing fees for creative practitioners, $50 for content creators, $25 for musicians, alongside broader hospitality sector charges ranging from $200 for restaurants to $2,000 for international tourism operators. The initiative is being implemented under the LNTA Act of 2025 and aligned with ECOWAS Tourism Accommodation Standards.
For many of the creatives now being asked to comply, the fees themselves are not the flashpoint. The absence of anything in return is.
“The fees are actually just and even affordable,” said Darius Kumorteh, the Liberian Afrobeats artist known professionally as Teddyride, “but what are our benefits?”
His question, posed first on Facebook and quickly amplified across the sector, has become the defining challenge of a policy debate that is exposing a structural fault line in Liberia’s approach to the creative economy.
A Sector Asked to Formalize Before It Can Function
Teddyride further pointed to the near-total absence of intellectual property protection as the foundational grievance underlying the current dispute.
“Our music is not even protected,” he said. “Entertainment centers play our music for free without the artists receiving anything.” He noted that while the government collects taxes from those entertainment businesses, there is little evidence of reinvestment into the industry that generates the product being taxed. He also cited the absence of concrete government plans for theaters, festivals or sector development as evidence that creatives have been excluded from national development thinking.
“Every year many people come from outside Liberia just to see their favorite entertainers,” he added, arguing that the creative sector has been subsidizing tourism growth without formal recognition or financial return.
Lyee K. Bility, chief executive of Bilikon Entertainment, offered a similarly pointed assessment. He said formalization is necessary but must be matched with tangible value to be credible.
“Creatives are being asked to formalize and register, yet the industry still lacks the structure, protection, and financial return that justifies that demand,” Bility said. “Registration should come with value. If the system is not yet creating clear opportunities or ensuring that creatives can earn sustainably, then enforcement alone will feel premature.”
He was careful to separate the principle of regulation from the practice of how it is being applied. “We are not against structure, we want it. But it has to work for the people driving the culture.”
A Chorus of Dissent
Across the sector, the same question keeps surfacing: what does compliance buy?
Comedian and content creator Mama Liberia pressed the point directly. “What exactly are we paying for? Is there promotion, grants, training or access to opportunities? Because right now, creators are not even earning from major platforms like Facebook, YouTube or TikTok.” She challenged the government to identify a single clear pathway through which a Liberian creator who pays the fee will generate income within six to 12 months.
Music analyst Ayouba Toure rejected the policy’s conceptual framework altogether. “You do not need a license to create music in serious markets,” he said. “Licenses are for using copyrighted material, not for creativity itself.”
Dancehall and reggae artist MZ Pillz framed the grievance in terms of what creatives already contribute without compensation. “Every time we post, we promote Liberia for free. Other countries invest in influencers, here, you want them to pay.”
DJ Weezy, a veteran music media personality, offered measured support for the regulatory principle while questioning its sequencing. “The idea is not bad, but why now? Creators are not earning yet. Government should help them generate income first.” DJ Grace Hawa Weah, known as DJ Master Queen, reached a similar conclusion. “The right way forward is to enable monetization first before enforcing fees.”
Bloggers Association of Liberia President Anthony Fofana criticized what he described as a pattern of increasing financial demands on citizens without corresponding relief or support.
The Global Standard Liberia Is Not Meeting
The creatives making these arguments are not opposed to the models that regulation can enable — they are pointing out the gap between what exists elsewhere and what exists here.
In the United States, copyright protection is automatic upon creation, allowing artists to earn through licensing and royalties without navigating a government registration regime. In Nigeria, sustained government and private sector investment in distribution, branding and global partnerships has transformed Afrobeats into a major export industry generating billions of dollars annually. South Africa has developed structured royalty systems that ensure artists are compensated whenever their work is used commercially.
In each case, regulation arrived alongside, or after, the infrastructure that makes it meaningful. Critics of the LNTA exercise argue that Liberia is attempting to regulate a sector it has not yet built.
LNTA Stands By the Policy
The Liberia National Tourism Authority has defended the initiative as both regulatory and developmental. The Authority says inspection teams will assess licensing, sanitation, safety and service delivery across establishments, while awareness campaigns guide operators toward compliance. It maintains the exercise will enhance sector credibility, improve service standards and ensure consumer protection in line with regional benchmarks.
The Authority has also warned that failure to register or meet standards could result in enforcement action.
What it has not done, critics note, is provide clear answers on how the fees collected from creatives will be reinvested into the sector, a silence that has done more than any fee schedule to fuel skepticism.
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