Intellectual property and musicians

Sangeeth Nipun Gayani Rupasinghe

Various works of art designed for entertainment are developed by the brain, hence they are called intellectual property. The artiste whether, irrespective of the country h/she belongs to, has various standards of insight which paves the way to creativity. The capability to design a creative work is a basic resource. It is quite difficult to place value on creativity apparently because it flows out of the brain spontaneously.

The declaration of the Intellectual Property Act of 1979 by the then Minister Lalith Athulathmudali is great service rendered for the welfare of the local artistes.

The Act was drawn up and approved by the United Nations Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Laws and regulations were announced but it is not known as to how far these laws and regulations were implemented.

The 2003 Intellectual Property Law, which had been subjected to amendments from time to time, had publication rights confined to words. Sufficient action was not taken for the artistes' welfare.

A patent licence is operative for an industrial product. It is however doubtful if a work of creative value is entitled to such licence. The artistes face a number of issues in this backdrop.

The song is a classical work of art we lost with the adoption of open economy in 1977. Seldom can we expect a good quality song composed by a lyricist - like sighting a comet in the sky. Is it only the song's creator - in this case, the lyricist, the musician and the singer - who feels the value of a song? It is important for everybody to see with open eyes if such a creation renders valuable service to the society. Isn't that creation giving us the real healing of the mind, entertainment and consolation? Can the value of the entertainment given to us be assessed in a proper manner?

Is it a wastage of time and energy to make a creation using the brain in the lines of talents as part of a contribution to the field of arts? This question always troubles my mind.

If a young artiste, who tries to enter the field of art, feels this way, isn't it wrong to say that these problems are faced by thousands of other artistes. It questions the fate of young artistes in the future.

Pathetically the newcomers do not try their hands on originals. They bank on the veterans such as H R Jothipala and Milton Mallawarachchi. These veterans too marked their name in the industry because they produced originals not imitating the predecessors. That's why their songs are highly appreciated and valued even by the present generation.

Many music lovers have now taken up SMS voting the singers for imitating the veterans. Does this provide a stage to entertain songs in a sane sense?

What has happened to our veterans today? Various so called artistes copy their creations and use them as their own creations. Lack of appreciation and recognition leave them out of the mainstream.