Top film production house in royalty row

Source: Times of India dated 20.11.2019

The economic offences wing (EOW) has booked Yash Raj Films (YRF) Pvt Ltd, its chairman and managing director Aditya Chopra, his brother Uday Chopra and others for criminal breach of trust and failing to pay royalty amounting to Rs 100 crore to several music composers and writers since 2012.

EOW was acting on a complaint filed by Sheetal Madnani of the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS), a professional body representing composers, lyricists and music publishers registered under the Copyright Act and Copyright Rules, and which collects royalty on behalf of authors and composers. IPRS's main charge is that YRF has been collecting royalty from licensed users of music since 2012 but hasn’t been passing them on to composers or lyricists.

An EOW officer said a preliminary enquiry (PE) was conducted before an FIR was registered. TOI made phone calls, and sent messages and emails to the communications department of YRF, but there was no response even 24 hours later.

The complainant’s statement to the police read: “The settled legal position is that while the production house can monitor and collect royalties for sound recordings and its own (equal) share of exploitation of lyrics and musical compositions, it cannot collect royalties on behalf of authors/music composers, which is the sole and exclusive domain of IPRS and no one else.”

The FIR was registered at the Amboli police station, and then transferred to EOW, a police department that probes financial crime. The complainant alleged that YRF had collected huge amounts of royalties from various platforms and had illegally diverted the same through unknown channels for personal gain. The complainant claimed that IPRS had documentary evidence in the form of an exchange of letters between it and YRF, clarifying its position as a copyright society that is the only entity authorised to collect and distribute royalties on behalf of its members.

The complainant added that YRF has, in order to create a ‘smokescreen’, been giving “miniscule” and “arbitrary” amounts of royalties to certain authors and composers. “Additionally, realising that its acts are illegal, the production house is now engaged in coercing authors and music composer members of IPRS to execute additional agreements in an attempt to cover its illegal activities that include having collected 100% royalties, including those due and payable to authors in the past.”

IPRS has collected royalties from two TV broadcast platforms, but it has not been able to collect royalties from telecom platforms, radio and other music streaming platforms in respect of authors’ share or royalties for the production house’s works, the complainant stated.

EOW is probing the case under section 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) of the Indian Penal Code and four other sections of the Copyright Act.