Write and wrong

The result is that now,radio channels will not need to pay royalties to the producer,author or composer of the music being broadcast. “This,however,is contrary to the international performing rights law,” said Javed Akhtar at the press meet called for by a few prominent lyricists and composers,including Loy Mendonca of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy,Vishal Bhardwaj and Ram Sampath,on Tuesday.

“According to the international treaty under World Trade Organization,of which India is a signatory,authors and composers are entitled to a royalty on their performing rights,to be paid by broadcasters in all the countries that are members of the WTO. So if Mexico or Spain play an Indian song,its lyricist and composer are supposed to receive a certain amount according to the performing rights.

“In fact,Indian FM channels pay international artistes their dues too. But now,these new rulings deny us all these rights,going against international laws,” he says. The community hence intends to appeal against these rulings soon.

While their claim is justified,what infuriates the writer-composer community is the fact that the case had been subjudice since 2006 and none of them has been receiving any royalty since.

Sampath and Mendonca,who have parallel careers as ad jingle composers,said that unlike in the film industry,the corporate world recognises the rights of authors and composers. “I hold seven different rights to my work,including the copyright and performing rights. Huge discrepancies operate in the film industry and these need to be looked into,” said Sampath.

Bhardwaj said that he hopes the amendment to the Copyright Act will cover all the grey areas regarding these issues. “Yet,until that happens,it is only fair to appeal against the ruling,” he said.