Landmark Copyright Amendment Bill Passed by Rajya Sabha
- R. M. Vijayakar, Special to India-West
- May 21, 2012
Javed Akhtar played a key role in mobilizing support for the new Copyright Bill. (PTI file photo)
UMBAI, India
The much overdue Copyright Bill, providing for vital amendments to the Copyright Act, was approved by the Rajya Sabha, India’s Upper House of Parliament, on May 17. The bill will remove operational difficulties and address newer issues related to the digital world and Internet as well as any new technology that might come in the future.
The Copyright Amendment Bill, 2010, moved by Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal, also seeks to bring Indian laws originally enacted in 1957 in conformity with international norms and the World Intellectual Property Organization, NDTV.com reported on its website May 17.
Sibal said a clause with a provision of giving royalty to the principal director of a film has been dropped in keeping with the suggestion of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.
“We wanted to actually give this right over royalty to the director. He is perhaps principal creator. But there was a feeling expressed by Parliamentary Standing Committee that time is not ripe to give that right. So, we are dropping (it),” he said.
Initiating the discussion, lyricist-writer and poet Javed Akhtar, who has been relentlessly spearheading the cause at the expense of being blacklisted by major filmmakers and music companies, said that companies have all rights over songs and the writers and singers do not get much from the commercial success. His 20 minute speech was a masterpiece of impromptu speaking, clearly indicating his wholehearted passion for the just cause and the facts that were clearly at his fingertips.
“Music companies dictates terms to even noted musicians like A.R. Rahman and others,” Akhtar said. Film actress and Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan talked about widespread prevalence of piracy and urged the bill to address the issue. Supporting the bill, she said all those associated with the creation of a song of film should be rewarded as these are “created collectively.” The HRD Minister said the piracy issue has been dealt with properly in the bill.
Said Sibal, “We are in the midst of new era, which I call digital era. In this digital era, the nature of rights of stakeholders needs to be looked afresh. As technology develops, we need to understand complexities and ensure that key stakeholders' rights are protected and can take the benefit of the digital era.”
The minister stated that work of dubbing artistes would be protected by the act. Singers too will have a moral right over the song as per the Amendment and will be entitled to a sum that can be later worked out with the producers of a film.
Ravishankar Prasad (BJP), Shantaram Naik (Congress), S.P. Singh Baghel (BSP), N.K. Singh (JD-U), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), M.P. Achuthan (CPI), Prabha Thakur (Congress) and Bharatkumar Raut (Shiv Sena) also participated in the debate. The bill was passed unanimously – an unprecedented event given the powerful lobbies working against it and making their representations before the PSC. The passing of the bill by the Lok Sabha, or Lower House, is a technical formality now because of the support given by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, opposition leader and former Information & Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj and Sonia Gandhi, as well as the Third Front and Left parties.
Sonu Niigaam, Kailash Kher, Shabana Azmi and Rohit Roy have hailed veteran writer Javed Akhtar for his efforts in getting the Bill through. Akhtar's wife Shabana was ecstatic.
“Hurrah copyright amendment bill passed in Rajya Sabha. Javed's historic moment to give lyricists, composers 12 percent of their rightful share,” she tweeted.
In a message to India-West on May 17, she said, “This legislation is historic and changes the course of music artistes and lyricists.”
Sonu Niigaam wrote: “Copyright act passed by the Rajya Sabha... For not just the composers and lyrics writer but singers too. Congratulations. Kudos @Javedakhtarjadu (Akhtar’s Twitter handle).”
“Javed Akhtar is a real hero for fighting for all creative people. We are blessed to see the change and people behind it. Finally copyright is and will be defined in real now in our country, congratulations to all intellectual property owners, finally you are protected,” tweeted Kailash Kher.
"Copyright bill passed... Congrats Javed saab... All you efforts paid off," tweeted Rohit Roy, actor, while Ehsaan Noorani of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy wrote: "@Javedakhtarjadu stellar speech in the RS! Many Congratulations on the bill being passed."
In an SMS, Himesh Reshammiya said: “It’s the best thing that has happened to the music industry and the credit goes to Javed-saab.”
“Now in the true sense, creative people will derive some commercial benefit from the popularity of a song among others who are also provided with certain rights for their creation” said composer Pritam.
While producer Farhan Akhtar (technically a member of the fraternity opposing the amendment) placed the YouTube link to father Javed Akhtar’s near 20-minute speech on Twitter, Raju Singh, a composer closely involved with the cause stated, “Well, it has finally happened, and the law will be soon passed. It’s new for our industry despite being an international norm, and we must sit together and understand the common good that’s going to come out of it for all of us.”
Agrees lyricist Sameer, “This was overdue for decades, but at least it has happened now, like the Mumbai Metro being built a 100 years after London’s! This was a battle for our rights. Weirdly, the greatest benefactors are not the music people who cannot sign away their 12.5 percent royalty but the producers who do not realize that they will benefit even more than us. They are protesting and resorting to lame statements and gimmicks without having a clue about how they will legally benefit and be prevented from being taken for a ride by music companies.
Producer Mukesh Bhatt’s statement in a tabloid about Javed-saab being a Tansen to Kapil Sibal’s Akbar is a farcical statement that shows only his ignorance and the fact that the filmmaking fraternity is opposing us for the sake of it and not because of valid issues. Why single out Javed-saab, when the ruling party and the enter opposition has come together on one issue?”
‘Explaining’ (sic) why producers are against the amendment, Bhatt had said, “We were never against the concept of royalty per se. Our bone of contention was simply that royalty should not be given from day one. Instead, it should be given after two years. We still think that way because one needs to understand that production and publicity costs have escalated in modern times. Let the producers recover that, say for two years or so. Only then royalty should come into effect.”
Producer Pahlaj Nihalani even stated, “However, it has been passed only in the Rajya Sabha so far. Let’s see what happens in the Lok Sabha,” he said, adding, “I fail to understand why if singers, composers and writers want to enjoy the profits, they can’t bear the losses as well. After all, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Predictably, the music companies are also seeing red and have brought up issues like a section of the act named 31-D, which Javed Akhtar stated is nothing new or valid. Neeraj Kalyan, president, Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. (T-Series), told Mumbai Mirror: “The amendment could have been a welcome step if the filmmaker’s representations were heard. The filmmakers believe that the committee has pre-judged the issue before making its report. It is therefore felt that some of the amendments will – in no uncertain terms – jeopardize the interest of not only the filmmakers who invest heavily in the making of films but also many of the upcoming talent including new authors, music composers, depriving them of opportunity to showcase their talent, create mass unemployment within the film industry, and result in an inevitable breakdown of the entire film and music industry.”
“The producers’ arguments are absurd, detailing how much they spend on recording, filming and promoting songs,” said Akhtar. “But we are not shareholders in the film and we are not asking for a share of their income from films, but from a song as used outside the film! They are not paying us from their own pockets or revenues from the movies they make. When this is the law worldwide, even in Hollywood, why and how can they loot us here?”
He pointed out that the amendment will benefit music creators across genres and Indian provinces as well as writers of all kinds, including scriptwriters. The lyricist especially praised Swaraj, who went out of her way to write letters to several musicians and lyricists and assure them that she would help see the bill through.
“She came out strongly in support of us. Her letter was also received by lyricist Abhilash, who despite writing ‘Itni shakti hamein dena daata’ in the 1985 film ‘Ankush,’ lives in a slum! Its composer Kuldip Singh and Abhilash were among the small-timers Swaraj wrote to after taking the trouble to locate their addresses. The song, from which neither of its creators nor filmmaker N. Chandra earned, has made a fortune for the music label, first from the album sales and other airings, and now as the ringtone/caller-tune of over 1.5 crore mobile users, besides being sung in schools! And please, this is not my victory. This is a victory of right over wrong.”
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http://www.indiawest.com/news/4592-landmark-copyright-amendment-bill-passed-by-rajya-sabha.html 
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