MUMBAI: A two day conference Pro Music Pro Musicians on Intellectual Copyrights for Indian Musicians is being organized by Underscore Records Pvt Ltd, a music label that was founded by vocalist Shubha Mudgal and musician Aneesh Pradhan. This conference will be held at the Hall of Culture, Nehru Centre Auditorium, Mumbai on 14 & 15 November, 2009.

"This conference is in response to the sizable feedback we received after we conducted a session on copyrights at this year's Baaja Gaaja Expo," says Underscore founder and vocalist Shubha Mudgal. In this conference areas like Copyright, Patenting, Performers Rights, Contracts and the various facets of the Digital and Internet age will be covered in depth.

But how much awareness do Indian musicians really have about Intellectual Property Rights? Mudgal explains, "A lot of musicians from the rock music scene are aware about the various copyright issues, but there are others, like the instrument manufacturers, who are unaware about things like patenting - even if they are, they don't like to get into that hassle....

Speaking at this conference are noted exoerts like Prof T N Daruwala (lawyer of the landmark Ram Sampat case), Legal Researcher Lawrence Liang, Ameeth Dutta of Luthra & Luthra Law offices, Musicologist Dr. Ashok Ranade and few others will throw light on the various aspects on Intellectual Property Rights 

Of all the areas, any artiste will agree that music contracts are a sensitive subject and need a professional eye. The conference will also be holding a session on 'contracts' that aim to highlight the nitty-gritty's of the subject.

"Very often the various clauses in the music contracts are often overlooked by the artistes. Or, artistes often don't ask too many questions to the labels fearing they might loose out on the record deal. At the conference we'd be distributing a general FAQ compiled by Legal Researcher Lawrence Liang and a â€?model' contract which highlights some of the terms and conditions which the artistes needs to be aware of," says Mudgal 

Though some experts in the music industry are of the opinion that Indian copyright laws needs to be reviewed, Mudgal is optimistic and accentuates that, Indian copyrights are very friendly, but the artistes need to take cognizance of this - it's just the question of spreading awareness about our laws,... she adds 

Unlike conferences where papers are discussed or speeches delivered, this conference will start by answering some important questions on IPR, "We'll be submitting a set of questions to the panelists (from our experience), and also add questions that we have received from some active participants. All the panelists will be answering these questions, so the attendees will get different perspectives, and then we plan to throw open the session between the panelists and people who'll be attending," says Mudgal.

"This conference is a result of the grant Underscore has received from the Ford Foundation - it takes a lot of time, effort and money to organize such Conferences," she informs.

Entry is free. Conference starts 9:30 am onwards on Saturday 14, November 2009.

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