MUMBAI: The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) has approached various dandiya mandals across the country to pay royalty fees for the commercial music played by them during the nine-day festival.
Some of the most popular organisers approached in Mumbai include Korakendra Navratri 2012, 3rd Rock Multimedia with Falguni Pathak, Bombay Durga Samiti Grant Road, Jain Jagruti Centre Ghatkopar, Ekta Navaratri at Somaiya Ground and Kalidas Mulund amongst others.
While few organizers have agreed and obtained the license to pay the royalty, annual major organizers like Kora Kendra, Ekta Navratri and Kaildas have turned a deaf ear to the notice.
Speaking with Radioandmusic.com, IPRS senior general manager licensing Kunal Sarin said, “It’s been around three years since Kora Kendra has been refusing to obtain the license from us. This time too they have been reluctant and ignored our notices. We are in the process of preparing the legal paperwork which should take about two days more, after which we shall approach the court.”
When contacted Kora Kendra president Ganesh Naidu, he refused to comment.
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A total of 32 event organizers have been approached in Gujarat and Maharashtra of which 12 have obtained the license and 20 are reluctant to comply. While organizers in Surat and Chennai have obtained the license, many in Baroda and Ahmedabad are still being sent letters.
One of the biggest dandiya organizers this year in Mumbai, 3rd Rock Multimedia and Mangal Entertainment who have roped in dandiya queen Falguni Pathak have shelled out Rs 5 lakhs for the nine-day fest, Sarin confirmed.
Under the Copyright Act, 1957, the IPRS is the exclusive licensing authority for public performances of live or recorded tracks. They collect royalty fees from hotels, restaurants, pubs, shopping malls and more for playing commercial music and distribute it to lyricists, composers and music companies.
“We have approached dandiya mandals all across the country as they specifically play bollywood music and need a license for the same. Whenever they book a venue the organizers need to obtain a license since it is a music event. We have left out Durga puja mandals as they only cater to religious intents,” Sarin said.
The royalty payment is calculated on the basis of the IPRS tariff card which is determined by the ticket rate, ground capacity and live music or DJ presence at the venue. If calculated roughly, every organizer has to pay a minimum amount of Rs 25,000 per day. The society has also initiated a special offer for organizers who can avail a 30 per cent discount on the payment if they pay eight days prior to the event.
The royalty fees collected from each organizer is accordingly distributed to the author, composer and owner of the particular track on the basis of the number of times the song is played at the event. While film music gets more percentage of the fees, pop music stays a notch lower.
Organizers who defer the payment on time receive a notice by the society, failure to comply leads to action taken against them by obtaining a court order. The evidences presented in the court include music recordings from the venue done by IPRS personnel and it is on this basis that the court orders them to pay the said amount to the society.
“We are a society and do not have that much manpower to be present at each venue and get recordings. We get no help from the police so it is not easy to file suits against so many organizers but we are going to make sure we make the defaulters pay this year,” Sarin stated.
Last year the IPRS took action against two major organizers Sankalp Events and Roman Vision Group at Tulip Star Juhu where the latter had to pay around Rs 80,000 to the IPRS as ordered by the court. This year too, the society has already stepped up against the adamant organizers. In Kolkata, Taaza Infotainment’s Dandiya programme and Nalban’s ‘Dandiaotsav 2012’ and ‘Jhalak 2012’ have already been refrained from playing bollywood music after obtaining a court order against them, while in Mumbai the IPRS is all set to initiate strict action against regular defaulters Kora Kendra.
