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Music maestro Illayaraja fights lone battle for royalty
Chennai, Dec 29 (IANS) The king of southern cine music, 75-year-old Illayaraja, a Padma Vibhushan, is fighting a lone battle for royalty.
Arraigned against Illayaraja are music companies, light music troupes and singers and now some movie producers who have filed a case under the Indian Copyright Act against the music director challenging his right to demand royalty.
“Illayaraja is doing what the IPRS (The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd) is doing. Illayaraja exited IPRS couple of years ago as the amount he was given as royalty for his about 6,000 songs was meagre,” said E. Pradeep Kumar, the music director’s copyright consultant.
He said the IPRS itself is under the scrutiny of Enforcement Director (ED) on various charges.
On Illayaraja’s demand for royalty, Kumar said as per the copyright laws, a music composer is entitled for royalty when others exploit his works for commercial gains.
On the other hand, the light music troupes say that they are just paid contractors for playing various songs and it is only the event organisors who are liable to pay royalty to the composers as it is they who sell the tickets.
Reacting to that Kumar said: “The light music troupes when signing up contracts for music performance should also insist that royalty payment should be made to the composers. It is not possible for the composers to demand royalty payment from event organisors who are overseas and within India.”
“Illayaraja demands royalty on the fee charged by the music troupes and not on the songs. How can someone copy a song originally composed by music directors like Illayaraja and earn in millions without paying anything to the composer?” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, six film producers have filed a case against Illayaraja for a declaration that the music composer cannot assert himself as the owner of copyright over songs featured in movies produced by different producers.
Their contention is that the music director is paid a remuneration for composing the music for a fee by the producer and hence the copyright rests with the movie producer.
According to the producers, Illayaraja has his own music application with his several movie songs. Several producers have not entered into agreement with Illayaraja assigning copyright to the latter.
Reacting to that Illayaraja’s copyright consultant Kumar said it is not known whether the former has composed music for the movies produced by the producers who have filed a case.
Kumar said Illayaraja has filed a case against music companies like Echo Recording Company, Unisys Info Solution, AGI Music, SDN BHD and Giri Trading Company for non-payment of royalties.
As per Section 14(a)(iii) of the Copyright Act, the owner of a musical work has the exclusive right to perform or communicate his musical work to the public, or authorise any other person to do so.
A music industry official preferring anonymity told IANS: “The first author of a cine music is the movie producer and then come the composer and lyrics writer.”
He said after the song is recorded, it is called sound recording and then various rights kick in, like selling of cassettes, live music shows, instrumental music and others.
In the case of music rights, the movie producer assigns the rights to a music company also known as music labels for them to sell cassettes, records and others.
“Earlier the amount realised from sale of cassettes was not much and producers were focussed on getting their money mainly from their movies,” he said.
The movie producers sold their rights on lumpsum basis or on royalty basis.
He said IPRS gets the licence to collect the royalty on behalf of the owners when they assign the right to it.
–IANS
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.
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