MUMBAI: The twin licensing arms of the Indian Music Industry (IMI) – The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) are contemplating legal action against some of the franchises that owned teams in the just concluded DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) series, for non payment of music royalties.
While the IPRS has decided to take legal action against the franchise owners of the Mumbai Indians (Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance), Delhi Daredevils (GMR Holdings) and Rajasthan Royals (Emerging Media Group ) for not responding to their repeated warnings, PPL is in talks with IPL teams.According to IMI stipulations, all public performances of music need to pay royalties for recording rights, performance rights and literary works copyrights.
The teams that played the IPL at various venues throughout the country, used Hindi film and pop music in a large measure as part of the entertainment package they used to lure audiences. Franchises outdid each other by pulling in singers like Daler Mehendi and Kailash Kher for live performances at the stadia. But the PPL and IPRS say that the teams are yet to pay the music licensing bodies their due.
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The royalties collected by the IPRS depend on the type of license issued and varies from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 7,00,000 per match. IPRS CEO Rakesh Nigam alleges, “We were going to contemplate action against the teams for using the licensed songs without paying the required license but some of the teams like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore had a settlement with us and paid the royalties.”
“Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Daredevils have not responded yet, in spite of us sending them litigation notices, so we will be filing a case and taking the necessary legal action against them”, says Nigam.
PPL CEO Vipul Pradhan avers, “There are disputes and discussions with some of the IPL teams laying claims that they refrained from using any licensed music. Recoveries are still pending and we might contemplate action against the defaulters.”
PPL administers the rights on behalf of about 137 recording companies, which are its members. PPL members include HMV (Saregama India), Tips, Universal, Venus, Sony Music, Magnasound, BMG Crescendo, Virgin, Milestone, Times Music and others.
According to the IPRS rules, the royalties to be played during each match are Rs 40 multiplied by the capacity of the stadium, whereas if the match is telecast, the rate is Rs 15 per person multiplied by the capacity. In case the music is not accompanied by an artiste’s performance, the rate is Rs three.
Quizzed why the royalty rates for PPL are distinct from those of the IPRS, Pradhan says, “Our royalties depend on the event, and for a three hour small sports event where the music content is relatively lesser, our royalty rates varies from Rs 1,00,000 to Rs 2,00,000 per match.”
The Punjab Cricket Association was the first to face the brunt of the IPRS for using pre recorded music content without obtaining a license during the IPL series. Also, the IPRS filed a copyright infringement case in the Calcuta High Court against Shah Rukh Khan’s team Kolkata Knight Riders for playing 14 Hindi songs without permission during one of its matches.
