Join as author/
composer

IPRS administers rights in respect of Musical Works (i.e. musical compositions/tunes/melodies) and literary works (i.e. lyrics) associated with musical works.

IPRS is a copyright society registered by the Central Government under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The Central Government granted a conditional registration in favour of IPRS as a Copyright Society with effect from November 28, 2017, which was confirmed vide Certificate dated June 8, 2018, in continuation and supersession of the November 2017 certificate. This registration is valid for a period of 5 years from such date of registration. A copy of the Certificate of Registration of IPRS is available at – Click Here

No. There is no obligation on anyone to do so. But if you study these FAQs and the IPRS website you will realize that in practice individual administration is impossible to do . Additionally, the Authors royalty share cannot be collected by owners of copyright (where they are assignees of the Author) – this is a role exclusively accorded to a Copyright Society like IPRS. That is why the world-wide system of organizations for the collective administration of copyright was devised, which has stood the test of time having been founded in 1851. Today there are more than 230 CMOs operating worldwide allowing Authors, Composers and Publishers unprecedented worldwide reach via IPRS.

Nothing! According to the law in India the Copyright in your work belongs to you by reason of the fact that you created or “made” that work. In some other countries the law requires that you shall conform to certain requirements such as registration and the payment of a fee, but in India the recognition of your copyright is automatic as soon as your work has been “made” i.e. comes into existence, and that means as soon as it has been reduced to writing or some other material form. You should note that Copyright does not protect “ideas” but only protects the expression i.e., when something like a story, script, lyrics have been reproduced in some tangible, perceptible form like a manuscript or a record. India is also unique when it comes to musical compositions, because the Copyright Act, 1957 in India does not require a musical composition to be in writing (or graphically notated) for it to be recognized as a ‘work’ under the law. There is, however, an important condition: Your work must be original, and not an unauthorized copy of someone else’s copyright work.

As the Company is a non-profit making body, all the royalties it collects are distributed to its members and affiliated societies after deduction only of its administration costs as allowed by law. The net royalties are distributed to the members as far as possible in accordance with the extent to which their particular works have been broadcast or publicly performed and as per the IPRS Distribution Rules/Scheme (Click Here). The royalties apportioned to each work are then distributed among the interested members and affiliated societies in accordance with their contracts and with the Company’s Rules. IPRS is allowed by the Copyright Rules, 2013 to deduct up to 15% on account of administrative expenses.

Nothing! According to the law in India the Copyright in your work belongs to you by reason of the fact that you created or “made” that work. In some other countries the law requires that you shall conform to certain requirements such as registration and the payment of a fee, but in India the recognition of your copyright is automatic as soon as your work has been “made” i.e. comes into existence, and that means as soon as it has been reduced to writing or some other material form. You should note that Copyright does not protect “ideas” but only protects the expression i.e., when something like a story, script, lyrics have been reproduced in some tangible, perceptible form like a manuscript or a record. India is also unique when it comes to musical compositions, because the Copyright Act, 1957 in India does not require a musical composition to be in writing (or graphically notated) for it to be recognized as a ‘work’ under the law. There is, however, an important condition: Your work must be original, and not an unauthorized copy of someone else’s copyright work.

Yes. IPRS’ policies allow for Legal Heirs of member to be brought in record in event of the passing of a member. Legal Heirs can also directly apply to join as legal heir members even if the author was not a member of IPRS. Members are also allowed the option of making nominations during their life time to ensure that their legal heirs continue receiving royalties pending resolution of legal formalities which can get cumbersome in India. Currently, in order to become a legal heir member, the legal heir member needs to comply with the Probate laws / Succession laws, etc., however, IPRS has worked to further streamline this process.