ibibo’s karaoke-like competition iSinger is the focus of a dispute between the MIH and TenCent owned company, and Music label T-Series. The matter, which was supposed to be taken up yesterday, will now be heard in July. We were in court at the hearing, and have subsequently contacted both ibibo and T-Series, who have declined to comment on the matter.
iSinger is a contest wherein the users submit a song via mobile. Other community members can then vote for their favourite singer. The contest is in multiple languages, and is being judged by music directors Neel Dutt (Bengali), Raghu Dixit (Malayalam), Sneha Khanwalkar (Hindi), Sanjeev Rana (Bhojpuri), Maulik Mehta (Gujarati). The possibility of a copyrighted song being uploaded is limited because users receive an automated call (in my case, from +911166246800), and are asked to sing into the mobile.
Now this case is different from that of YouTube, wherein, users have uploaded copyrighted content. This is a little tricky, and will come down to technicalities:
Firstly, is ibibo as a platform liable for user generated/uploaded content?
Secondly, is there a violation of copyright when a user sings a song and uploads to a website?
– Is a case of a user playing a tune in a background, and singing a song before uploading it on the site a violation of copyright?
– Is a case of a user merely singing lyrics (without a tune playing in the background), which are uploaded to a website, a violation of copyright?
Thirdly, what happens when a user uploads a full song via an automated call?
That is something for the court to deliberate on. T-Series has been fairly active in protecting its copyright – the company has so far taken on several Internet companies like Yahoo, MySpace, and most famously, YouTube.
This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.
7 Comments until now.
you can use any media upto 30 secs – sing it, use it as soundtrack whatever, without violating copyright laws internationally. and if you sing it, you can use the whole song too.
Hi Soo,
Do you mean I can sing a full song without backing tracks – new or old and no copyrights are violated. And the 30-sec caveat is for only when backing tracks are played in the background.
Is this a law followed worldwide and not in India. Or is it valid in India.
Please clear this doubt, I know it looks like I am restating what you said. But I am really confused.
Mr. Nikhil, answering a few of the questions you've raised (some of which have clear, unambiguous answers. Some don't) :-
U ask: Is ibibo as a platform liable for user generated/uploaded content?
Ans:- Yes and No. In the normal course of events it is not liable. But whenever there is claim/report of a breach, then the platform becomes liable too. (Most sensible players pull out the reported content at this stage itself)
U ask: is there a violation of copyright when a user sings a song and uploads to a website?
Ans:- Absolutely not!
U ask:- Is a case of a user playing a tune in a background, and singing a song before uploading it on the site a violation of copyright?
Ans:- No it isn't. This could very well be explained as a 'coincidental ambient sound'. ("the radio was playing in the background.") (On a similar note… what if an NDTV reporter is doing a shopping story on Palika Bazar, and she and the camera crew are walking through the alleys of Palika Bazar, and their camera/mike is picking up T-series songs blaring from the shops in the background?)
U ask:- Is a case of a user merely singing lyrics (without a tune playing in the background), which are uploaded to a website, a violation of copyright?
Ans:- DEFINITELY NOT! This is completely obligation free.
U ask:- what happens when a user uploads a full song via an automated call?
Ans:- Yes, this would be a breach. Most reasonable platforms normally work overtime to pro-actively and re-actively weed out such content.
End note:-
The entire empire of T-Series and others was built on exploiting a loophole in the Copyright Act of 1957 and creating counterfeit 'version recordings' of hundreds of thousands of songs from the last 60-70 years of Indian cinema! And singers like Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet, and Sonu Nigam started their careers singing Kishore Kumar and Rafi songs for T-series.
Whats the stand of law on remixes, karaoke etc ?…can people do a rehash or a mashup of successful music legally ?
Hi Soo,
You cannot use any media be it a second or 30 sec clip without getting legal clearance from the copyright owner.
And regarding re-singing the whole song even that is not legally allowed. As the music company mostly owns the copyrights to the songs and the "works, which include the lyrics and everything else that goes into making a song.
For more on thsi you can consult a IP lawyer.
Prachi,
You need to be corrected here — there are no copyrights on lyrics!
There are copyrights on "mechanical reproduction" and SINGING is by no means "mechanical reproduction"
guys get your facts right, the lyrics and compositions are intelectual property of the lyricist and composer, it is usually protected by a governing body like iprs , in the case of Tseries they control the rights to the lyrics and the musical composition. there is no rule that says you can use 10, 20 or 30 second of an original composition without paying the owner royalty. in the case of the actual recording the rights are usually protected by a body like PPL