Effects of the act

Suchitra’s Media Wing’ presented a seminar on the Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2012 recently at Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy.

To understand the issue better, ‘Suchitra's Media Wing’ organised a day-long seminar with copyright and legal experts. The Copyright Bill has been passed by both houses of Parliament and has attracted nation-wide attention.

The opening session introduced the bill, its background, provisions and implications for media.

The first speaker of the seminar, Lawrence Liang from the ‘Alternative Law Forum’, spoke about the background of some of the debates and submissions that were made to the ministry and to the standing committee. He also mentioned the implications of the amendment on these questions.

In the context of the recent amendments, Sudhir Krishnaswamy, from Azim Premji University, discussed the internet intermediary liability and copyright, libraries and the lending of copyright works.

After this, Rakesh Prabhu, representing the ALMT Legal Bill 2012, explained the impact of the amendment on rights of IP creators.

Evidently, songwriters, composers and musicians in the film industry have welcomed the bill in gushing tones.

The new law is said to be in keeping with international and WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) norms. Javed Akhtar, a Rajya Sabha member, had passionately argued for the amendments at the ‘World Copyright Summit’.

But many producers are confused. The amendments are likely to have major implications. Basically, the bill declares authors or the original creators as owners of the copyright. For instance, it will now be mandatory for broadcasters — both in radio and TV — to pay a royalty to the owners of the copyright each time their works of art are used.

The second session included discussions on culture, creativity and identity and touched upon issues such as dubbing and remakes of traditional folk music. For this session, the panel included Jnanpith Awardee Chandrashekara Kambar; Gurukiran, a music director and Sathyamurthy Anandur, a writer.

The third session included the impact of the amendment on the media.
People from the media, such as film distributor K V Gupta and music director V Manohar amongst others, voiced their concerns.
The last session included questions from the audience.