Screenwriters unite to form a society to demand royalty

Mumbai, Dec 5  Bollywood screenwriters have united to form a society under Section 33 of the Copyright Act, 1957, to demand royalty in the scripts they pen for films.

“Through this new copyright society, writers will be entitled to get royalties for their story, screenplay and dialogues which they write for films,” informed trade analyst Komal Nahta in filminformation.com.

The 2012 amendment of the Copyright Act brought writers under the same umbrella as music directors and songwriters, who get a share in the royalties from film songs.

Now, the Screenwriters Rights Association of India (SRAI) has filed an application demanding royalty. It is being claimed that the copyright office of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has invited objections and comments from the public as well as stakeholders.

SRAI has applied before the government through the Registrar of Copyrights, for registration of a Copyright Society. It will look into literary and dramatic works, like the story, script, screenplay, dialogues or any other literary works except lyrics.

Noted writers of the film industry including Anjum Rajabali, Saket Chaudhary, Juhi Chaturvedi, Vipul Shah and Kamlesh Pandey are reportedly driving the initiative to form the Copyright Society (Screenwriters Rights Association of India).