Time for TV shows to face the music?

Recently, composer

Anil Johnson

posted on his social media that he is planning to take legal action against the makers of the popular TV show

Uppum Mulakum

for using the background score that he had composed for the film Memories, without his prior consent.

For a lot a people, that immediately brought to mind the question, if it’s illegal, why do a lot of TV shows use movie scores?
While it’s true that it is a common practice in the television industry, Trivandrum Times talks to music composers, TV show directors and legal experts to find the nitty-gritties about the use of copyrighted music:

Why compromise on music scores?
Anil Johnson says, “Most people or channels don’t seem to know that a law exists against this. What channels have are only the telecast rights, to show the song as it is. They can’t manipulate or use any musical or visual pieces for another purpose. When composers do original scores, they claim copyright and then share them when applicable.”

The recent instance is not the first time that Anil has alerted the makers of TV programmes against the illegal use of his copyrighted music.
“Uppum Mulakum is a popular show and could very well use their own music. The sad part is that they don’t even ask our consent. The track is just ripped straight from the film and used as per their whims and fancies. When channels pay close to `1 lakh per episode, why do the makers compromise on music?” he asks.

‘The music can get misjudged, when used without permission or discretion’
Music director Shaan Rahman says when his debut film Malarvadi Arts Club was released, he had noticed his composition being used on TV without consent. “I am of the opinion that it is not right to use a composer’s work without his consent. For one, it is someone’s property and there are many people involved in its creation, such as director, producer, music composer and more, who have put in their work and thought into it. That’s what they easily cut and paste into programmes,” he says, stressing that TV shows must use their own compositions.

Think about a scenario in which Malayalam film directors use bits from Hollywood films. Will that be right? he asks. “Secondly, we would be making a BGM to convey a particular emotion. There is no guarantee that the ones copying it use it to convey the same emotions. In such cases, when the audience feel a mismatch, they criticise the music,” Shaan says, calling for strong copyright law awareness.

‘This has always been the practice on TV’
In his defence, Unnikrishnan R, the director of Uppum Mulakum, says that the programme has no music director. The show apparently had a composer only for the title song and the BGMs of the episodes are added by the editors.

“They depend on a bank of available stock music. It includes scores from different films of various languages. As far as I know, we can use such bytes up to 30 seconds,” he says, adding that he is clueless about the legalities behind the use of copyright music.
The director also explains that the show has aired over 400 episodes and “using a composer to score original BGM for each episode is not viable”. “So, we just follow the normal practice,” Unnikrishnan says.

What does the law say?
Intellectual property rights expert and advocate Benoy Kadavan explains, “According to Copyright Act 1957 this is not legal and the right of a piece of music that is vested with the composer should not be used without permission.”
He also says that the law doesn’t specify any extent of permitted usage based on time such as 30 or 40 seconds. “The law takes into account whether it is a substantial copy or not. The court will look into the kind of portion used – to ascertain if it is the main, qualitative content or sublime portions that have been plagiarised. Sometimes, if only a very small bit is used, court may treat it as a fair use,” he says.

A case like this can go both in the criminal and civil route and as per the copyright act, there is a criminal punishment up to three years of imprisonment and as per a civil case, you can claim for damages.

Composers speak
My BGM for Katha Parayumbol was used for several TV shows. I have also noticed certain compositions that I have done for serials, being later used for other shows. It’s a very rampant practice and we can’t help this situation unless the copyright laws are strong.
— M Jayachandran

Some shows had used the theme of Malarvadi Arts Club . I am against such practices because a lot of people put in their effort to create music and that is undermined when someone else illegally uses it. If the law was strong, nobody would dare resort to these malpractices. — Shaan Rahman
Certain programmes have used parts of my compositions from Run Baby Run, Cocktail and Aadupuliyattam for the intro scenes. I generally consider the usage only as part of the popularity of the song. — Ratheesh Vega

I have often noticed it happen. The bits of my film Meghamalhar have often been used on TV programmes. I didn’t give it much thought as nobody really cares about the music on that platform.
— Ramesh Narayanan