Chances are you’ve heard about Delhi High Court’s recent interim order directing A. R. Rahman and the makers of the period drama Ponniyan Selvam: Part Two to deposit INR 2 cr in a copyright infringement dispute involving the Junior Wadali brothers. The court even directed replacing the credits to reflect the Wadali brothers’ authorship on all online platforms and OTTs.
Plagiarism rows are nothing new in the mainstream music industry. What makes this one special is its examination of the issue of copyright infringement of music by traditional classical artists. As a result of challenges in establishing ownership due to oral traditions, and financial barriers, classical artists are especially vulnerable to such infringement. And to make things worse, the line between originality and derivation in these cases is extremely thin. It’s a challenge to navigate the grey area of “protectable expression” within the constraints of ragas.
I spoke to Mint about the technicalities involved in such cases. Read this detailed article by Lata Jha published in today’s issue of Mint.
https://lnkd.in/dPg9E7XS
