The music industry is undergoing major changes on how the Rs 10.6 billion industry (KPMG) post the passing of the amended Copyright Act last year. The development calls for legal and financial expertise on how to implement future contracts, protect rights and redress litigation and complaints.Radioandmusic.com caught up with former bureaucrat and Copyright and Entertainment lawyer Jagdish Sagar for a ringside view of the legal side of the music business.
Excerpts:
What is the general level of awareness regarding copyrights and its allied rights among artistes and the industry?
It is my perception that the recent amendments to the Copyright Act have created a new awareness of the same and related rights. Industry always, in any case, is obliged to study the Act and take professional advice about implementing it. However, we cannot expect the same level of understanding among individual creative people, who should not be expected to re-orient their minds as lawyers: the copyright societies are there to look after their interests.
What do you think are the major roadblocks that the implementation of Copyright Act faces- industry wise and legally (Is the legal profession ready to take up Copyright cases?)
The legal profession is always ready to take up cases. The roadblocks arise out of the unclear drafting of the recent amendments, which have created controversies, considerable puzzlement, and already have created challenges to the amendments. Let me add, the intentions behind the amendments were impeccable.
There is a regular flow of artistes entering the industry with very little more than raw talent. How can these ignorant talent(s) be protected from exploitation- is there a system in place?
There is a system in place in the copyright societies, particularly IPRS (Indian Performing Right Society) and ISRA (Indian Singers’ Rights Association) which have been set up respectively for authors and performers: it is for their members to make them work effectively. However, I feel it is simplistic to speak of "exploitation". There may be cases where that word might be appropriate, but on the whole different individual authors and performers have different levels of market power, and these will have to be reflected in their contracts. The amendments seem to have created hopes among some which have yet to be, and may never be, realized; in other words creative people may feel "exploited" because different possible meanings are being read into the law as it
The music industry is undergoing major changes on how the Rs 10.6 billion industry (KPMG) post the passing of the amended Copyright Act last year. The development calls for legal and financial expertise on how to implement future contracts, protect rights and redress litigation and complaints.Radioandmusic.com caught up with former bureaucrat and Copyright and Entertainment lawyer Jagdish Sagar for a ringside view of the legal side of the music business.
Excerpts:
What is the general level of awareness regarding copyrights and its allied rights among artistes and the industry?
It is my perception that the recent amendments to the Copyright Act have created a new awareness of the same and related rights. Industry always, in any case, is obliged to study the Act and take professional advice about implementing it. However, we cannot expect the same level of understanding among individual creative people, who should not be expected to re-orient their minds as lawyers: the copyright societies are there to look after their interests.
What do you think are the major roadblocks that the implementation of Copyright Act faces- industry wise and legally (Is the legal profession ready to take up Copyright cases?)
The legal profession is always ready to take up cases. The roadblocks arise out of the unclear drafting of the recent amendments, which have created controversies, considerable puzzlement, and already have created challenges to the amendments. Let me add, the intentions behind the amendments were impeccable.
There is a regular flow of artistes entering the industry with very little more than raw talent. How can these ignorant talent(s) be protected from exploitation- is there a system in place?
There is a system in place in the copyright societies, particularly IPRS (Indian Performing Right Society) and ISRA (Indian Singers’ Rights Association) which have been set up respectively for authors and performers: it is for their members to make them work effectively. However, I feel it is simplistic to speak of "exploitation". There may be cases where that word might be appropriate, but on the whole different individual authors and performers have different levels of market power, and these will have to be reflected in their contracts. The amendments seem to have created hopes among some which have yet to be, and may never be, realized; in other words creative people may feel "exploited" because different possible meanings are being read into the law as it