Mumbai police's Economic Offence Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR against Bollywood production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) allegedly pocketing £10 million belonging to lyricists, musicians, singers and music producers. The case has been filed by The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) which represents composers, lyricists and music producers.
According to the complaint, YRF has forced artistes to sign "dubious" contracts and collected royalties which did belong to artists. It says that production house cannot collect royalties on behalf of artists and music composers as its the sole and exclusive right of IPRS. "The complaint was registered based on preliminary inquiry and evidence submitted. Further investigations will be carried out and accused will be called for questioning if needed," said an official from EOW.
EOW will also investigate if other production houses and studios have indulged in similar practices. The FIR has been registered under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Copyright Act. The FIR had names of YRF directors Aditya and Uday Chopra, and was registered last week.
After the news surfaced, Salim Merchant, of the composer duo Salim-Sulaiman, shocked Bollywood buffs by alleging that YRF has not paid him royalties despite having collected the same. He added that this was the reason he has not worked with YRF over the past four years.
