Whose line is it anyway?

A part of the rupee you spend on a film, or a piece of music, may eventually go to its creator as royalty. That is, if a bill tabled in Parliament becomes law. Until now, the producer or record label would gobble up everything. Mumbai’s music and film industry is jubilant. Finally, they’ve been heard. Could this be the end of the pauper artiste?

A part of the rupee you spend on a film, or a piece of music, may eventually go to its creator as royalty. That is, if a bill tabled in Parliament becomes law. Until now, the producer or record label would gobble up everything. Mumbai’s music and film industry is jubilant. Finally, they’ve been heard. Could this be the end of the pauper artiste?

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Aadesh Srivastava
It’s like getting justice. Our seniors have been fighting for their rights since many years but they never got the respect that they deserve. The practice has been to sign a film on the basis of your relationship. But when money comes into the picture, we get manipulated and they force us to sign one-sided contracts, where we have no right over our creations at all. We’ve been exploited for years. White collar dons would create a plastic box with our creation inside and make money off it. We were handicapped, it was like someone taking away our children. But God is kind and we are finally getting our due.

Ram Sampath
When I filed a case against Rakesh Roshan for using my tune in Krazzy 4, people were vary of me and thought of me as a bloodhound copyright. I didn’t have work for quite a while. But life is back to normal and my copyright victory was a vindication. The ad industry has strong opinions of copyright laws and now it’s an important step for the film industry too. It will curb plagiarism and unethical behaviour. Just like in the west, it will take us one step further, and we will move towards a more integrity and returns-based industry. It’s a very strong step. The copyright acts were always very well-written and this will only improve them.

Suleiman Merchant
Since quite a while, creative people have been disgruntled that they haven’t been getting their due and there has been a plea from the community to sort out this issue. When contracts were drawn it was always the case that we would get a one-time fee and after that we would have no right on our property. But ever since new avenues opened through which we could earn royalties too, we have been trying to push for it. I’m quite ecstatic that it’s happening.

Lalit Pandit
For the longest time, our every right was taken away, including the right of paternity for our creation. More than a question of money, it was a question of right and wrong. It became a compulsion to give our rights away. I’m glad the government has taken this move and it will benefit the whole fraternity.

Himmesh Reshammiya
The royalty deal between each music director and music company is different. I have been keeping a partnership arrangement with companies since a very long time and that’s why it helped me. The concept of royalties in India is very les in comparison to the West, where royalties and publishing rights are huge. So if the same rule about
royalties is introduced here, it would be a boon to all. The new proposed law would be the biggest revolution in the music industry.

Alka Yagnik
So far, we never got any royalties at all, which is very strange since the voice which projects the entire song also deserves some credit. Doing something single-handedly was of no use, it had to be done collectively. Many a times we singers did get together and propose this amendment and make an association. But because of differences of opinion, it never took off. This time, hopefully, we will get our due.

Amendments proposed to Copyright Act, 1957

* Music composers and lyricists to get royalty for commercial use of songs such as ringtones and downloads.
* Copyright Act to cover digital format and liability of Internet service providers.
* Access to affordable copyright material in Braille, talking text, large print and sign language to aid the differently-abled.
* Period of copyright for photographers to be enhanced to life plus 60 years.
* Earlier, only the film’s producer had the copyright of the product. After the amendment in the Act, the term of copyright for cinematograph films has been extended by making the producers and principal director as joint authors (of the film).
* It has been proposed to introduce a system of statutory licensing to ensure that the public has access to musical works over the FM radio and TV networks and at the same time the owners of copyright works are also not subject to any disadvantages.