Yash Raj Pocketed Rs 100 Cr Worth Royalties Belonging To Artist, Music Producers

Mumbai: The Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) – which represents composers, music producers have accused Bollywood production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) of unauthorisedly collecting over Rs 100 crore in music royalties belonging to IPRS members.

Mumbai police’s Economic Offence Wing (EOW) has registered an FIR against Bollywood production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) allegedly pocketing Rs 100 crore belonging to lyricists, musicians, singers and music producers.

According to the complaint, YRF has forced artistes to sign “dubious” contracts and collected royalties which did belong to them. 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 FIR claims that while YRF has managed to extract royalties from two TV broadcast platforms, it has not been able to get telecoms, radio stations and music streaming platforms to pay up.

“The complaint was registered based on preliminary enquiry and evidence submitted. Further investigations will be carried out and accused will be called for questioning if needed,” said an official from EOW.

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,” said a police officer who did not wish to be identified.

The FIR had names of YRF directors Aditya and Uday Chopra and was registered last week.

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