The Indian film industry has established a groundbreaking partnership between the Music Composers Association of India (MCAI) and the Screenwriters Association (SWA) to ensure fair credits for creative professionals.

Under the new agreement, composers and lyricists will be recognized as 'equal co-authors' and 'primary artists' in song creation. This landmark decision allows them to negotiate independent contracts with producers, providing greater control over their creative rights.

The reform addresses longstanding issues in Bollywood, where writers and composers often face delayed payments and lack proper recognition. Writer-lyricist Varun Grover highlights this problem, citing how even renowned lyricists like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar's works often appear without credits on popular platforms.

MCAI president and filmmaker-composer Vishal Bhardwaj emphasizes that this agreement goes beyond mere crediting—it represents a fundamental shift toward recognizing and protecting creative contributions in the industry.

The SWA, which represents over 57,000 fellow members across multiple Indian languages, serves as a trade union for writers in films, TV, and digital platforms. This includes screenwriters working in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Konkani, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri, Bengali, Kannada, Oriya, Assamese, and other North eastern languages, with 8,000 regular members.

The initiative marks a significant step toward aligning India's film industry with global standards for creative professionals' rights and recognition.

Related Articles

Previous Articles