IPAB upheld the Rights of IPRS to Collect Royalties from FM Radio Stations on New Year’s Eve

It is practically impossible to keep a track record of musical works being used or broadcasted especially in a digital era like today. To tackle this situation, a copyright society comes to the rescue. With a motive to keep the authenticity and legitimacy of copyrighted music, copyright societies like the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) maintains a proper record of musical works being published and broadcasted as well as grant licenses and certificates to users for making use of such musical works. In consideration, it collects royalties from such users on behalf of its members, including, the authors, composers, lyricists, and publishers. Thereafter, after deducting their own functional and administrative costs, IPRS distributes the royalties to such members. 

The New Year celebrations came right on time for IPRS. The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) upheld the rights of IPRS and its members on the 31st. Keeping in view the amendments made in the Copyright (Amendment) Act of 2012 pertaining to the ‘Right to Receive Royalty’, Justice Manmohan Singh along with Technical members N. Surya Senthil and S. P. Chockalingam affirmed the rights and subsequently permitted IPRS to collect royalties from FM Radio Stations. The proceedings witnessed the attendance of all major FM radio corporations along with other music corporations and copyright societies like IPRS.

IPRS on behalf of its member lyricists, music composers, publishers, and music writers were granted the right to receive royalties and compensation as regards the music, lyrics, and sound recordings broadcasted by the FM Radio Stations in India. Independent royalty rates were established for each kind of work, as to say, separate rates for literary work, musical work, and sound recordings.

Managed and controlled by a Governing Council of Directors, IPRS has its head office in Mumbai and other branch offices in Delhi, Chennai, and Kolkata. Presently, it is chaired by the legendary author and music composer, Mr. Javed Akhtar.

“This landmark decision has applied the law by recognizing the rights of creators like lyricists and music composers to an equal share of royalty from the utilization of the lyrics and music in any form” stated Mr. Akhtar welcoming the landmark judgment. “We sincerely thank the honorable IPAB for its clear and unambiguous recognition of the rights of creators in line with the law and now hope that our colleagues in the radio broadcast sector can now move forward with the creative community in harmony in view of this judgment”.