MUMBAI: The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS), a Copyright Society registered under the Copyright Act, 1957, has been immutable in safeguarding and protecting the rights of songwriters, composers, and owner publishers of music since 1969. Thus, on World Intellectual Property Day this year, the IPRS is set to launch a pan India campaign to inform and educate on music copyright and licensing.

This year the theme of World Intellectual Property Day is “IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future”. Hence, as the first leg of the campaign, IPRS would be associating with music schools and institutes across India to build awareness of the rights for music and its creators. The initiative will be amplified further through year-long activities for its members and music creators to exchange knowledge and ideas about authors and their rights. It will also witness a roadshow in multiple cities to engage with music stalwarts and C-suites from the music business industry.

Mr. Javed Akhtar, Chairman, IPRS adds, “The Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS) is consistently innovating to safeguard its members' works and rights. Continuing with its efforts, IPRS is now all set to expand its horizon, reaching out to the youth and the nation's future creators, helping them to find out how IP rights can support their goals, and help transform their dreams into reality. We aim to bring about the much-needed change towards understanding and acknowledging the rights of a creator.”

Renowned music composers Sachin Sanghvi and Jigar Saraiya of the popular Sachin-Jigar duo, while lauding the IPRS initiative said, “The fact that the program is going to be supported with year-long activities makes it all the more advantageous for the songwriters and music creators, who often pay the price for their ignorance about their rights and end up being deprived of their credits and income, while carrying the mental agony. This will surely help them carve a better future as they get a grip on the tools of the IP system”.

"Youth has always been the biggest stake-holding segment of the Music and Entertainment industry. But while their role was most prominent as consumers till a few years back, today they have a far bigger role as active creators. Intellectual Property and Youth is a fantastic theme for our initiatives this year as we understand and affirm that the youth of today are sculpting the future of the emerging traditions as we speak", says eminent lyricist, screenwriter, and IPRS Board Member Mayur Puri. “This novel initiative by IPRS is extremely well-timed and will empower young creators with knowledge about their rights at the start of their careers, exactly when they need it.

Speaking on the initiative Mr. Rakesh Nigam, CEO, of IPRS says, “Building awareness about creators’ rights has been our constant endeavour. We are glad to take this effort to the next level by reaching out to not only the creators of today but empowering the songwriters of tomorrow through knowledge and know-how. This financial year, our focus will be to create a valuable business ecosystem and new revenue opportunities for our members. The industry is witnessing major transformation, with digital technology presenting new opportunities and challenges in protecting copyright works, thus catapulting the role of IPRS further.”

Triggering off the initiative on Tuesday, April 26th, the first session will happen at India’s premier institute of Film, Communication & Creative Arts - Whistling Woods, where IPRS will shed light on why it is vital for the creator, and those associated with music and media, to understand IP and Copyright.

The overall aim is to create and spread awareness about Fair Pay and Fair Play of music and emphasize the importance of acquiring a license. Through a series of workshops, discussion forums, tutorials, and awareness programmes IPRS would be educating music enthusiasts, creators, and music users across multiple domains on the relevance of music copyright and the variety of licensing needs. It will highlight the benefits of music licensing and explain how copyright societies make it easy to procure a license and play music legally.