Another musical battle for royalty

Recently, Sonu Nigam took on T-Series over royalty issues. Looks like it is now the turn of music director trio Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy. Bollywood films are known to cash in on the popularity of their music.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

But Abhay Deol's latest film One By Two seems to have no such luck. With the music director trio refusing to abide by the terms laid down by music label T-Series, their contract has yet to be signed and the music of the film has not been released.

T-Series chief Bhushan Kumar

Shankar Mahadevan says that the music company wants to collect royalty for the film's music on their behalf. Emphasising that their actions are legally sound, he says, "The music association and our lawyers have advised us to not sign the agreement as it is illegal. We can't allow the music company to collect royalty on our behalf."

Producer Abhay Deol

Producer Abhay Deol too has chosen to side with the trio, even though his film is losing out due to the lack of music in its promotions. Conceding that films often rely on songs for their publicity, he says that he is supporting Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy as it is a matter of principle for him. "I have always worked with the underdog and I have never hesitated from doing films that nobody else wanted to do. I know I have lost out on the music but I will not allow injustice to anyone," he says.

When contacted, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series said that he already has the rights to the film's music. "I have been facing problems only with the smaller films. We never faced problems with Sajid Wajid who assigned the music rights to Sohail Khan and ditto for Ram Sampath who has composed music for my film Bhootnath 2. Even Himesh Reshammiya has agreed to give rights to his music," he said, adding that producers should sort out such issues before recording the film's music.