Chura liya...

Shivli Tyagi / TNN / Feb 19, 2006, 01:39 IST

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Plagiarism has always been one of the side-effects of creativity.

Plagiarism has always been one of the side-effects of creativity.
Aadesh Shrivastava accuses Anu Malik of plagiarising his composition in his forthcoming project Himesh Reshammiya is accused by singer Krishna for not being given credits for the remixed version of 'Aap ki kashish'.
Ex-Viva girl Neha Bhasin sends legal notice to music director Anand Raaj Anand for not giving her credit as a lead singer
Plagiarism has always been one of the side-effects of creativity.And the Rs 1,150 crore worth music industry seems to have been caught in this whirlwind of sorts.

In the last couple of months, there have been four such incidents of singers, musicians, DJs and music composers throwing up accusations and counter accusations.
More money in music
"Music making business has become huge. And when that happens these things are bound to happen. After all, everyone wants a part of the huge pie," says a music company official.
Singer Kailash Kher says, "When there is a mob of not so talented people around, there is bound to be chaos.

One never got to hear the music legends getting into anything like this ever. These people seem to be insecure and they are resorting to such means to get publicity."
Exploiting upcoming artistes
"Usually one ends up singing more than once for a music composer. But this threat is always there of someone using one of your recorded version or even stealing your tune without giving you the credit for it," informs Jimmy Felix of Aasma.
Ex viva girl Neha Bhasin who recently accused music composer Anand Raj for not giving her due credits says, "I heard my voice in this particular song which I had sung for Anand Raj.
And as I'm not a background vocalist I had told them that I didn't want my voice to be heard. But even then my voice was used. Maybe they thought they will get away with this but I won't let it happen that way."
Singer Sanjeevani would even go as far as saying that there exists a 'singing couch' in the industry. "There are enough sleazy composers around and a 'bumper crop' of new singers wanting to make a mark for themselves."
Too much competition
Music composer Lalit Pandit says, "Everyone gets exploited, there is nothing new in this."
Rakesh Nigam of IPRS (Indian Performing Rights Society) - a society formed to keep the interest of singers and music directors in mind by collecting royalties for the work - feels that all these controversies are a result of 'creativity being at its lowest ebb.'
Music composer Anand Raj Anand blames it on the lure of turning into 'brands'. "Playback singing has become a glamorous option. New singers want to become famous overnight."
Need for a monitoring body
Weak legislation and an inability of the existing registration organisation to take stringent action have led to this stage, feel most singers and composers.
Singer Sanjeevani says, "Tunes are blatantly lifted, ghost composers are forced to sell their work to established ones for money.
Even though we have bodies like the Film Writers Association and Cine Music Directors Association and IPRS, much needs to be done."
Agrees Lalit, "We need stricter laws." Talking about work ethics, Nigam says, "Even if a song has been remixed, the DJ who has done it needs to be credited for it. If you don't give credit, it simply means you are stealing it."
And the law says...
Sadly, other than legal recourse, there isn't any way out. Even the Cine Music Directors Association shows its helplessness in providing a redressal to those affected.
Raj Sonik of the association says, "No one comes to us. They don't follow our rules. Instead they prefer going in for legal action."
Raj Kumar Yadav, a lawyer, says, "Many artistes and especially newcomers are not aware of their rights. In such instances, a case can be filed under defamation and under the infringement of the copyright act."
shivli.tyagi@timesgroup.com

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