Industry hails Parliament's nod to Copyright act amendments

Song writers, artistes and performers, who were deprived of their dues so far, can now claim royalty for their creations after the Lok Sabha passed the bill today with members from all parties supporting the measure for creative artistes whose benefits are cornered by producers.

"This day shall be marked as one of the most important days in the history of music industry. It is a victory for all of us. We must thank all those who supported us in this fight," composer Shekhar Ravjiani told PTI.

Veteran composer Pyarelal said, "I am very happy... We finally won. The sad part is that it came late but it is a great thing for us."

Lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar had been fighting for the rights of artistes so that they get a share in revenue in the form of royalties from music companies and production houses.

"It is a big achievement for us. But again it is sad that it came late. It is all because of Javed saheb... We all must thank him. I hope there is recovery for what has been used in the past," said singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya.

Milind of composer duo Anand-Milind said, "I am thrilled and glad that it has finally happened today after a long time. I hope the bill takes care of old musicians and composers whose music is still used and they get royalty as they have no other source of income now."

Composer-singer Shankar Mahadevan tweeted, "Watching history being made, finally the copyright act is being passed... Great moment for all of us in the creative space!!!"

"The copyright Amendment bill passed today in Lok Sabha unanimously. A new era in the history of Indian music. Thank you @Javedakhtarjadu," tweeted composer Sulaiman Merchant.

Shridhar Subramaniam, President India and Middle East Sony Music India, said in a statement, "This Amendment is a positive move and we are very supportive of this bill. We are delighted that going forward the composers and lyricists will get a share in royalties. This was long awaited and we believe this will help the overall artist development."