Digital Technology and Copyright Protection the Challenges of Indian Performers Rights Society

Abstract

Indian music is ever-green. Every restaurant, pub. Airports, stadium, television etc plays them making them world famous. India has 465 FM Radio stations which constantly play Indian Bollywood music. Though the song becomes well known the singer who sang the song is not recognized nor does he or she receive sufficient compensation for the song. The artist in India is the one who works so hard but ends up getting nothing. The ‘Indian Copyright  law was amended in 2012’ to acknowledge the rights of performers. The singers were recognized as performers. The law provided for royalty to be paid to the singers. In reality this royalty never reached the singers. The problem for the singer was identifying the user playing his song and the problem for a genuine user was identifying the location of the singer to pay the royalty directly to him. Therefore, there was a need for an independent body to administer the copyright and collect royalty. ISRA is the bridge between the singer and the user which helps in collecting royalty. This article discusses the issues faced by the singers and the need to develop a smother collective administration of copyright.