Taking cue from the Copyright (Amendment) Act, the Indian Singers Rights Association (ISRA) held its first meeting in the State on Thursday as part of a membership drive and to create awareness about the right to royalty as provided by the law. Many singers, including playback singer P. Jayachandran, took part.
Singer Sreenivasan, who is on the director board of ISRA along with Sanjay Tandon, CEO, spoke about what it aimed to do by collecting royalties from organisations that used songs for commercial purposes. Mr. Tandon said it did not encroach on the rights of the Indian Performing Rights Society, which safeguards the rights of the composer and lyricist over a song. “ISRA is engaging with radio stations, TV channels, mobile companies, and websites that utilise songs commercially,” said Mr. Tandon. “So far mega events such as the IPL, ISL, and a few commercial establishments have become part of the network for ISRA to collect royalties,” said Mr. Tandon. “Singers too have a right to collect royalty for the voice that had rendered a song,” he added. “ISRA has collected ₹51 lakh in the last four years which is being distributed among 623 singers. It is an organisation for all singers, not just playback singers,” Mr. Tandon said. Singers Renjini Jose and Jyothsna took membership in ISRA about a year-and-a-half ago. “I just signed the documents for receiving the royalty. I am curious to know how much I will get,” said Ms. Jose. “Not all singers are stage performers. Remuneration through stage shows is limited to only such performers,” Ms. Jyothsna said. “Remuneration of singers is a major issue,” said singer G. Venugopal. Singers Madhu Balakrishnan, Biju Narayanan, and Chitra Arun were among those who attended the meeting.
Details about ISRA are on isracopyright.com
