Cinema music dominates the Indian audioscape, but nobody uses the term ?original music soundtrack? to describe the set of songs that tends to form such an integral part of any Indian film. Wisely so, it was thought, because unauthorised tune and melody lifts from other sources have been rampant in the Indian film industry. Now, thanks to a Bombay High Court judgement on an intellectual property violation committed by Rakesh Roshan?s production company FilmKraft, maker of Krazzy4, this could change. On Thursday, the court ruled in favour of music director Ram Sampath, who had alleged that four tracks from the film had incorporated significant elements of his music composition for ?Thump?, a Sony Ericsson TV commercial. Rather than delete the tracks from the film, which was set to release the very next day, as the court directed, FilmKraft opted to pay Sampath Rs 2 crore by way of settlement. This is a large sum, and should act as a deterrent to all would-be copyright violators. The case is all the more interesting because the violation was not without mitigating circumstances: as Roshan?s actor son, Hrithik Roshan, admitted in a text message sent to Sampath, the music was used on the assumption that the intellectual property belonged to Sony Ericsson, from whom the filmmaker had obtained a no objection certificate (incidentally, the actor starred in the TV commercial as well).
All the same, the message that goes out to the entire film fraternity is that intellectual property is not to be trifled with in India, and this will go a long way towards encouraging originality. That compositions should be valued so highly is also an incentive to youngsters to adopt music as a career option. Since film music is almost all the music that ever sells in India, the power equation in India remains tilted in favour of filmmakers, despite the big role soundtracks play in drawing people to theatres and ensuring the longevity of films in popular memory. Sadly, soundtracks lack independent market valuations (in the digital era, CD/tape sales are a weak indicator). The shift in incentives that the judgement signals?Krazzy4?s maker coughed up Rs 2 crore without blinking?is likely to work in favour of the entire Indian entertainment industry?s long-term future. May valuations become better market-attuned. And may music break more barriers.
