Copyright in performing flim songs
Film songs are part of the Indian cultural life. The news about Ilayaraja’s assertion of copyright and sending notices to singers like SP Balasubramaiam (SPB) and KS Chitra to stop singing songs with his music have sent shock waves among film music lovers and to many singers whose livelihood depends on their freedom to perform film songs or its remakes. Leaving the moral issue aside, Ilayaraja’s action raises these important questions: Whether he has the legal right to stop public performance of songs with his music? Whether his copyright assertion eliminates the possibility of live performance of songs by other singers? Will his action assure him the expected revenue? Whether the Government of India has a role to protect the interest of music lovers and other performers? The first issue to be dealt with is based on the authorship of the song. The song includes musical work, lyrics and the sound of the singer, which is the performance, in which the composer himself is coined as t...