Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS)-INDIAN EXPRESS-03-02-2020

News:

• The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police has registered an FIR against Yash Raj Films (YRF) Pvt Ltd for alleged criminal breach of trust and failure to pay an estimated Rs 100 crore in royalty to several music composers and writers since 2012.
• The FIR was registered on a complaint by the Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS).

Key highlights:

• The Indian Performing Right Society (IPRS) is a representative body of artists, including music owners, composers, lyricists, and publishers of music, which collects royalties due to the artists if their work is used anywhere from a wedding to a New Year function or on radio or TV.

• The body was set up in 1969, and re-registered as a copyright society in 2017 under the amended Copyright Act, 1957.

• The IPRS has its offices in Mumbai.

• IPRS has both civil and criminal remedies available to it under The Copyright Act. It has filed civil suits in 20-25 cases earlier, but the move against YRF was the IPRS’s first criminal complaint.