The Hindu : New Delhi News : New pact on music royalties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 30, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

New pact on music royalties

By Lakshmi B. Ghosh

NEW DELHI, DEC. 29. This should spell music for the Indian music industry. As part of its attempt to make exchange of music between India and Britain more smooth, the Indian Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL), the apex copyright society for sound recordings of the Indian Music industry (IMI), and the British Phonographic Performance Limited have decided to come up with a single-window system that would allow sharing of royalties in both countries.

The two sides came to an understanding on the reciprocal arrangement during a meeting between representatives of the Indian music industry and a delegation of the UK Trade & Investment that visited the country recently. With many Indian artistes topping the UK music charts and British musicians continuing to be a rage among music lovers here, industry members feel the decision will go a long way in encouraging the inflow and outflow of music.

What this would mean is that every time a company or radio station needs to pay royalty to the music company in question, they would just have to get in touch with their local copyright society instead of getting in touch with the foreign company or authority in question. While setting in place a standard tariff system for use, the understanding would mean more exchange of music between the two countries and, therefore, better variety for the audience.

A major break for radio stations as well as other members who currently need to get permission from more than one place, technological advancements and an "environment conducive for growth in non-physical formats'' have prompted the UK Trade & Investment to join hands with the Indian music industry for mutual growth and benefit.

According to Vijay Lazarus, President of IMI and PPL, the meeting noted the UK delegation's two major concerns. "They were rather concerned about Article 52 (1) (J) that has brought the copyright issue into the fore. They are not keen to expose their songs to misuse, what with most songs being remixed today. Another concern was the high level of piracy. It was felt that there was a need for a norm and a task force to curb piracy,'' Mr. Lazarus.

With musical exchange between Indian and British artists on the rise, and Indian artistes making a mark on the UK music charts, the market for Indian music is clearly witnessing a rise. And with British artistes always having enjoyed a lot of popularity here, there is much to look forward to in the months and years ahead, feel industry officials.

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