Musicians furious with new law
Composers and lyricists in India have expressed their dissonance with the recent High Court verdict regarding the royalty issue.
The Mumbai High Court said that the Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS), which offers copyright safeguards for musicians and lyricists, henceforth will not entitle musicians the right to claim or demand royalty or license fees from FM Radio channels who wish to broadcast their music.
The FM stations will now have to pay the Phonographic Performances Limited (PPL) to obtain a license to play the original works of musicians in the country.
PPL is a body registered with the Government of India that facilitates the process of obtaining Broadcasting/ Telecasting and Public Performance Rights on behalf of its over 160 member music companies.
Several well-known musicians from the industry like, Javed Akhtar, Vishal Bharadwaj, Ram Sampat and Loy Mendonsa got together to voice their opinions on the verdict.
Javed Akhtar said, “The radio fraternity kept convincing us that they were interested in paying us royalty. But the high court decision is contrary to their assurances. It just shows their double standards. We are very unhappy about it.”
Javed Akhtar added that this copyright issue is no longer confined to the nation.
The verdict is contradictory to the provisions of the present Indian Copyright Act and is also in gross violation with international treaties like the TRIPS (Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) and the Berne Convention.
If India does not recognise the rights of composers and songwriters, it could well face an international backlash since copyright is no more a local matter,” Akhtar said.
Like Akhtar other members of the music fraternity are not happy with the Indian Royalty Act. Speaking for them he said, “We are not happy at all. We are expected to sign an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) and cannot question many of the provisions stated there in. If we don’t comply we will be out of jobs. According to the act, we are supposed to get 50 per cent and the producers 50 per cent. But we have never received our share. Our point is that the work of composers and musicians needs to be recognised, right now we are totally neglected. The royalty we receive is like pension receivable for so many of us during our old age,” said a furious Akhtar.
K-town speaks
James Vasanthan, music director
Any creative work is considered an intellectual property and only the composer has rights over it.
For years now this debate has be ongoing between producers, FM stations and music directors and we still don’t know where its going to stop.
James Vasanthan, music director
Any creative work is considered an intellectual property and only the composer has rights over it.
For years now this debate has be ongoing between producers, FM stations and music directors and we still don’t know where its going to stop.
