Salim Merchant Claims That He Has Not Worked With YRF For 4 Years Because Of Unpaid Dues, Lyricist Sameer Hasn’t Been Paid Since 2012!

Recently, there had been reports that Yash Raj Films had been booked by the Mumbai Police for allegedly collecting 100 crores as music royalties that belonged to the members of the Indian Performing Rights Society's (IPRS). In the report, it was also stated that “the body has alleged that YRF has prevented it from collecting royalties from telecom companies, radio stations and music streaming platforms by pressurizing artistes to sign illegal agreements.”

Salim Merchant and Lyricist Sameer have now opened up about the same and have claimed that they have also not been paid for quite some time. According to a report by The Quint, Salim has claimed that both he and Sulaiman had not worked with YRF for the past four years because of the unpaid dues. He said, “Yash Raj has been collecting money on behalf of the composer and lyricist – that much I know – but I don’t know whether they have paid anyone. They have certainly not paid me and Sulaiman.” He also added that T-Series is another company that isn’t paying dues,, which is why they have not been working with them either.

Salim, in fact, added that he knows for a fact that Javed Akhtar has not been paid for his work. He said, “I know Javed Akhtar sahib has not been paid, for sure. Because my last meeting with him... you know he's not been paid, Sulaiman and I have not been paid – any royalties that have come from Yash Raj, we have not been paid.”

Lyricist Sameer too said the same thing and added, “They (YRF Music) are not paying royalty for so many years since the Copyright Act was passed in 2012. From that day till today, they haven’t paid a single rupee to artistes and composers.” He further said, “Javed sir (Javed Akhtar, chairman of IPRS) called so many times, and they have not agreed to pay royalty so finally, IPRS had to take this stand. This is not an artist, author or composer fight, this is what the copyright act is. The composer or writer are not asking for money from their pocket. We are asking for money from worldwide rights, the money that they are collecting on our behalf.”

Aditya Chopra and Uday Chopra has also been booked under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and other sections of Copyright Act. Keep a tab to know more about the matter!