The Hindu Business Line : South Indian music body seeks copyright society status

THE South India Music Companies Association (SIMCA) has made a pitch for recognition as a copyright society for Southern music labels, alleging in a letter to the Registrar of Copyrights that the sole collecting society for sound recordings, Phonographic Performance Ltd, has not been able to address regional problems.

While strong regional players have, over the years, sprung up in different parts of the country, it has said, PPL does not represent most of them.

This argument forms the crux of SIMCA's reply to a letter last month from the Central Government, asking the former to present its case, especially in the light of a Copyright Act clause which states that "the Central Government shall not ordinarily register more than one copyright society to do business in respect of the same class of works." PPL is already registered as a copyright society for sound recordings.

SIMCA's contention is that as an association of over 30 music companies, it contributes around 80 per cent of the sales in the South; and only a handful of recording labels from the region are affiliated to the PPL. Also, PPL "has been unable to attract the small players which have flourished in almost every region of the country."

The association has also alleged in the letter that PPL has not paid its Southern members any broadcasting royalties, and has done very little to fight piracy. It has also said that many memberships in PPL are offered without voting rights.

A SIMCA source told Business Line that the association has played the role of a facilitator in "protecting and recognising" the members' interest and has initiated agreements with private FM stations and ringtone operators, because of which music companies have been richer by Rs 1 crore in recent months.

Instead of a centralised agency such as the PPL, he said, there could be regional collection and disbursement groups reporting to a national association.

PPL rebuttal

A top official of PPL, when pressed for a comment, termed SIMCA's allegations against it as "fundamentally incorrect."

PPL has always worked toward protecting the rights of its members, he said, citing the organisation's fight for increased royalty rates from private FM radio stations.

Regarding membership issues, he said, "We don't have any bias against anyone." Although, the official said, there are not many Southern members of PPL, some of its members with presence across the country, including Saregama, have a healthy share in the Southern market.

The official refused to reveal PPL's next move.

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