Ilayaraja video re-ignites royalty row

Music composer Ilayaraja stoked a long-simmering feud with singer SP Balasubrahmanyam on Tuesday evening, by releasing a two-minute video asking for royalty from singers and orchestras performing his work for commercial gain. Last year, the composer had sent a legal notice to the fellow legend for singing his songs, without paying royalty as per the copyright law.

"I'd like to inform all singers and musicians to get my prior sanction for singing my songs," he warns in the video, "Otherwise it is an offence under the copyright law. If they don't conform to this I will take action as per law."

The Copyright Act, amended in 2012, stipulates the payment of royalty to a music composer during his or her lifetime, as well as 60 years after their death. In the video, the composer of more than 5,800 songs clarifies: "The royalty is on the fee you're charging, not the song. If you sing for free, I want no royalty. But if you sing for money, why shouldn't I get a share when the song's mine?"

Music royalty has been a prickly issue from the 1960s across the Indian film industry. Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar had then insisted that not only composers, but even singers must get royalty.

While several singers agreed, music companies and directors on the opposing side found singer Mohammed Rafi on their side.

This led to a virtual fault line in the music fraternity — Mangeshkar did not sing with Rafi for nearly three years, choosing instead to partner with Mahindra Kapoor, while Rafi formed a team with Suman Kalyanpur.

Music composer Pyarelal remembers how became rather ugly until the composer duo Shankar Jaikishan brokered peace and brought the legends back together.

"While this ended the war, the issue of royalty has never been fully resolved," he said. "I think authorities and government should formulate a policy on the basis of international examples in such a way that no one is short-changed."

Lyricist-poet Javed Akhtar has fighting a long battle to ensure lyricists and musicians are paid royalties. "This is necessary by law and also a matter of principle," he has said in the past.

Classical vocalist Shubha Mudgal wonders if litigation is the solution. "We need to put systems to ensure this is properly done. Logs will have to maintained about what is sung and whose composition it is for every single performance, like it is done abroad. Unless this is addressed, we won't be able to resolve the issue."

Meanwhile, Ilayaraja has authorised the South Indian Film Music Artistes' Association to collect royalty. Cine Musicians' Union president Dhina thanked the composer for sharing the royalty with musicians even though the Act only asked for royalty to be shared among composer, lyricist and audio owners. "For the first time, the musicians will also get a share from the royalty for a song," he said.