Royalty Predicament of the Authors of Musical Works in India: An Exploitative Business

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse the matter concerning the payment of royalties arising out of assignment agreements, entered into between the music composers, lyricists, film producers and producers of sound recordings. The paper broadly covers, the history behind the amendments brought into force by the Indian legislature, in order to comply with its obligations under the International Conventions. Further, it also elaborates on the amendments introduced, due to the lobbying efforts made by the members of the Indian music industry. It then proceeds to analyse the view point taken by the judiciary, while adjudicating upon the disputes arising out of such issues. Further, the paper discusses the perspective under the European Union, for recommending a qualitative proposal to mitigate the disputes and improve the flow of payment of royalties. The author proposes an environment that can be inspired by the interdependence and co-existence of authors of different categories of works, i.e., between the music composers, lyricists and producers of sound recordings.

Keywords: Indian Copyright Law, Author's right, Aditya Pandey, EIMPA, Statutory Royalty