The Bollywood Amendments: Film, Music and Indian Copyright Law (2010 to 2012)

Abstract

One of the key objectives of the amendments made to the Indian copyright statute in 2012 was to protect the authors of underlying works in films (such as scriptwriters, lyricists and music composers) from exploitation by effecting extensive structural changes to the Indian Copyright Act, 1957, and, consequently, in the workings of India’s film and music industry. The other objectives were to ‘update’ India’s copyright statute to cause it to be compliant with the WIPO Internet Treaties (which India has not signed), and to ‘update’ it to bring it into consonance with new technological developments. The 2012 amendments therefore cover a wide range of subjects including the exhaustion of rights, the regulation of copyright contracts and the role of copyright societies; this paper examines the provisions of the 2012 amendments which affect the film and music industry, and, taking into consideration the factual background, explores whether the amendments are likely to realise their objectives.

Keywords: Copyright, Amendment, India, Films, Authors, Assignment, Licences, IPRS, Exhaustion, Copyright Societies, Cover Versions, Broadcasting

JEL Classification: K12, K19, O34