Between Beats and Barriers: Rethinking Copyright and Royalties in India's Music Industry

In the era where we are sailing towards digitalization, the Indian Music Industry is at the junction of creativity and chaos. While India’s legal regime is held by the Copyright Act, 1957, is it actually airtight? The Copyright Act, nonetheless, provides provisions for the enforcement and protection of the rights of musicians; it does not cover much of those of independent and regional musicians. Especially, where the accessibility and distribution of music know no borders, the prevention of infringement and unauthorised use goes beyond the coverage of the act. 

The Framework: What Copyright Provides to Musicians

When we talk about protecting musicians' rights and refer to the Copyright Act, 1957, the act under the definition of Copyright mentions two things, i.e., the sound recording and musical works. The sound recording means the tunes and notes in a song; however, musical works comprise the lyrics of a song. As per Section 14 of the act, creators enjoy the exclusive right of reproduction, distribution, and public performance of their music, and earn royalties when their works are used commercially. The amendment brought in 2012 to the Copyright Act raised hopes with the reinforcement of moral rights and payment of royalties to composers and lyricists even upon assignment of their rights.

The proviso of Section 18(1) states that even after assigning rights to producers or music labels, authors of literary and musical works retain their right to receive royalties. Sections 19(9) and 19(10) require that royalty sharing has to be made in writing and ensure that authors cannot waive their royalty rights even by specific mention in the contract. Section 33 regulates licensing by Collective Management Organisations (CMOs), requiring them to be registered and accountable. Still, the chasm between legislation and practice persists and plagues India’s music ecosystem. 

The Reality: Awareness Deficits and Institutional Barriers

The research shows that a significant number of musicians in India, especially those working in the regional level and independently, lacks awareness of their fundamental copyright rights. They are given little or no knowledge on intellectual property during their formal training. The creator’s ignorance becomes an exploitation opportunity for intermediaries such as record labels, management companies, and sometimes even streaming platforms who capitalize on the creator’s lack of legal literacy.

Collective Management Organisations: A Broken Trust?

As per Section 33 of the Act, CMOs such as the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) are responsible for licensing works, collecting royalties, and distributing them to rights holders. However, multiple sources suggest that there is a lack of transparency and efficiency in the working of CMOs. The concept “Black Box Royalties” refers to the unclaimed or unattributable revenues that are held by CMOs due to incomplete or inaccurate data. These revenues, which are supposed to be distributed to musicians, are often misallocated or not distributed at all, which contributes to a growing trust deficit. While the purpose of CMOs as safeguards of artist rights has long been the aim, confusing distribution mechanisms, antiquated data handling, and bureaucratic obstacles have caused numerous artists to go around them.

Streaming and the Digital Disruption

The emergence of platforms such as Spotify, YouTube, and Gaana has reshaped music consumption but also came with new challenges. While providing worldwide visibility, these platforms reward creators just a small fraction of the income, sometimes a mere few paise per listen. Also, the revenue-sharing model tends to benefit large labels at the expense of individual artists. The streaming services follow a market-share model where high-volume artists reap disproportionately, leaving independent and small artists behind​.

Another factor complicating the situation is the absence of metadata consistency. Most songs are uploaded without proper attribution, which means royalties are either misdirected or kept on hold.

Where Do We Go from Here? Reforms and Innovations

The music sector requires special legal and technological reforms. The process begins with incorporating IPR studies into music education. Musicians don't need to be lawyers, but they do need to learn at least about their fundamental rights and responsibilities. Legal decomplication is also a priority. Registration of copyrights and claims for royalties need to be simplified, affordable, and backed by specialized legal clinics or voluntary services for solo artists.

On the technological side, blockchain presents a revolutionary chance. By developing permanent records of music use data, blockchain has the potential to reward artists with equitable and automatic compensation. Smart contracts can automatically issue royalty payments in real-time, without relying on slow intermediaries. Platforms should also be required to publish open royalty statements, with precise detail about how much money was earned and whom exactly it was paid to. This transparency is critical to restore confidence in the system.

Lastly, the government and music organizations need to conduct awareness campaigns, particularly in local languages, to fill the information gap and democratize access to copyright protection.

REFERENCES:

·      Copyright Act, 1957, § 14, §18(1), §19(9),(10), § 33 No. 14, Acts of Parliament, 1957 (India).

·     Sahoo, B. and Sakalkar, R., 2024. Judicial Approaches to Music Copyright Infringement in India: A Case

·     Study-Based Analysis. Library of Progress-Library Science, Information Technology & Computer, 44(3).

·     Copyright Act, 1957, § 14, No. 14, Acts of Parliament, 1957 (India).

·    Elshan, E., Engel, C. and Ebel, P., 2021. Opening the black box of music royalties with the help of hybrid intelligence.

·   Autio, A.J., 2019. The Effects of Digital Music Streaming on the Revenue Models of Independent Musicians.

·     Riley, D., 2011. Incentives for Creating Hits: Mechanical Royalties and Other Streams of Income for Popular Musicians. New York University.

·      Nathaniela, T.C., Princes, E. and Wang, G., 2024, August. Royalty Management by Using Blockchain Network: A Multiple Case Study. In 2024 International Conference on Information Management and Technology (ICIMTech) (pp. 316-321). IEEE.

·     Mehta, D., Tanwar, S., Bodkhe, U., Shukla, A. and Kumar, N., 2021. Blockchain-based royalty contract transactions scheme for Industry 4.0 supply-chain management. Information processing & management, 58(4), p.102586.

This article is authored by Vishakha Burnwal. She was among the Top 40 performers in the Quiz Competition on New Criminal Laws organized by Lets Learn Law.