Parliament Passes Copyright Amendment Bill

It is time for the writers and other creative people such as song writers, directors and authors of Bollywood to cheer up because finally Lok Sabha has passed the Copyright Amendment Bill on 22nd May, 2012. This bill was passed by Rajya Sabha on 17th May, 2012.

Renowned film writer Javed Akhtar , who wrote some blockbuster movies such as Sholay , Don , Deewaar , Zanjeer etc. deserves most of the credit who struggled very hard along with some other members of the fraternity to seek justice for the writers.

The UPA government passed this bill on the last day of the budget session.

Earlier, singers, authors, lyricists, composers etc. used to get only one time fee for their work whereas the producers and other companies related with the film and music used to earn revenues forever. Now, according to Javed Akhtar (who is also member of Rajya Sabha) says that now onwards authors will also get royalties for lifetime and they can even appoint legal heir to receive the royalties for their work. This will secure the life of writers and other creative people even when they are not working or when they are not in a condition to work.

According to Kapil Sibal, who too supported the bill, "When it comes to payment of royalties through other mediums, producers and authors must share that royalty in equal measure,"

All the parties in Lok Sabha agreed and supported the amendment bill due to which the bill was passed unanimously.

According to the bill, it becomes compulsory for broadcasters to pay royalty to the owners of the copyright each time their creation is broadcast. According to the bill, no one can take out cover versions of any dramatic, literary or musical work for 5 years from the first recording of the original creation.

According to the new law, authors will remain the owners of the copyright which is a great news for the writers, song writers etc. Now, writers will not only earn name when their work becomes hit but they will also gain money for their work.

It should be noted that very few people dared to ask royalties from their producers in return of their work. Lata Mangeshkar used to ask royalties and if produced refused to enter into such agreement, she used to refuse to work.

But due to poor condition or several other reasons, everyone could not refuse to work and they had to enter into such agreement which did not do justice with their work.

In support of the bill, Sushma Swaraj of BJP said, "We have not been able to fulfil our responsibility towards composers, lyricists, singers... now we will be able to (do) justice to them."