MUMBAI: In a move to renew its support to the Indian government’s efforts to modify the 1957 Copyright Act, CISAC- the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers has written to the HRD minister Kapil Sibal to pass the amendments to the Indian Copyright Act
In a letter to the minister of human resources and development Kapil Sibal, CISAC’s director general Eric Baptiste stated, Composers and authors in other key filmmaking markets like the United States, the European Union, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan do not lose their right to a share in the royalties when their creations are used in films, even though, like their Indian colleagues, they have been paid to compose or write for film or sound recording companies…
Movie music in India is a big business and it’s unacceptable that the composers and lyricists who make the music don’t benefit from the success of their works because of an outdated system,… said CISAC’s President Robin Gibb. Indian producers and record companies clearly don’t want to share their royalties with creators, but the Indian Parliament needs to know that this is not the norm elsewhere….
For example, AR Rahman, composer of the Oscar-winning songs in Slumdog Millionaire, kept the rights to his work on this UK-produced film but would not have if these very same works were included in an Indian production
To rectify these discrepancies and bring one of the world’s most important film-producing countries in line with international practices, CISAC and the international community of creators fully endorses the proposed amendments and encourages the Indian Parliament to vote them into law as quickly as possible
The proposed amendments would grant independent rights to literary and musical creators (i.e. composers and lyricists) of musical works used in Indian films and recognise film directors as co-authors with producers, ultimately allowing them all to receive royalties. Currently, Indian film and record producers exploit the works of these creators through blanket buyouts that deprive creators of their rights to control further uses of these works or collect royalties
Unsurprisingly, Indian movie and record moguls, who have long profited from this set-up, launched a relentless lobbying campaign against the proposed amendments after their approval by the Indian Cabinet in December. The amendments are perfectly consistent with established and accepted practices of the film industry worldwide, contrary to the claims of the Indian producers.