...not to hold onto them, but to make sure that the composers and performers get their due.
Read the whole thing, but here's a snippet:
The Frenchman realised there was potential in opening a music publishing business in India while heading the audio-visual department at the French embassy in Delhi.
He says the embassy collected $400,000 in royalties between 1990 and 1995 for Indian music used in France.
"We didn't know whom to pay this money because most of the works of music were not registered," Mr Forler told the BBC News website.
...
In India, Achille Forler collects royalties for songs he has bought directly. He also collects royalties for songwriters and takes a share of the earnings.
Despite India's detailed copyright laws, negotiating music contracts and securing royalties here is often mired in long-drawn court battles.
In many cases, royalties due to songwriters and lyricists are being pocketed by record companies.
...
He says that Indian songwriters are becoming more aware of their royalty rights.
"The Indian music industry has huge potential. But if it wants to go global in a big way, it should adopt international practices of accounting and payments," he says.
Nice! Here's the company website.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 23:10 (twenty years ago)