Rights and copyrights

Recently singer Sona Mohapatra along with Indiarsquos Raw Star Rituraj Mohanty performed the iconic Sambalpuri song Rangabati on MTV Coke Studio The song beloved in Orissa got over a million hits onlineIt also attracted a lawsuit The copyright holders of the song mdash lyricist Mitrabhanu Gauntia and music director Prabhudutta Pradhan mdash had not been asked for permission or credited on the show Though they demanded one crore rupees they claimed their reasons for the lawsuit were emotional mdash the song had been ldquodistortedrdquo and ldquohurt sentimentsrdquoSona MohapatraMs Mohapatra responding on Twitter elided legal issues and said the lawsuit was politically motivated In a subsequent interview she added her intention had been to ldquoput a spotlight onrdquo her home state The song had ldquounited Odiasrdquo an intent and effect one might reasonably call politicalItrsquos possible therersquos an assumption or feeling that such popular songs belong to everyone especially given their folk roots So it never struck anyone in the crushing Intellectual Property Rights heavyworld of corporate entertainment to clarify copyright issues It would be interesting to see what happens if Coke Studiorsquos Rangabati were used somewhere without permission Hai naSome weeks earlier Bandrarsquos favourite hipster songstress started a crowdfunding campaign to raise R50 lakh for a music video called Shiver intended to ldquostrike at the heart of Article 377rdquo and help the LGBT community Before you could say Monica Dogra she attracted scorn and some righteous anger online for capitalising on the sexual rights movements for personal aggrandisementOne could fairly question Ms Dograrsquos claim that an arty sounding video would lsquomainstream transgender representation in popular culturersquo But can one question her right to make this claim the video and in fact claim these politics Like folk songs donrsquot issues belong to everyoneSo what is the restlessness lsquonegativityrsquo that these stories elicit really aboutThe Intellectual Property Rights IRP structure of corporate entertainment is not built to favour artists or recognise how a common pool of culture contributes to all artistic expression It believes in exclusive ownership and big numbers and criminalises ideas based on sharing Some feel this has contributed to the loss of diverse musical cultures Arguably unlike its Pakistani counterpart Coke Studio India while claiming to celebrate folk hasnrsquot made too many great folk artists famous as much as further privileged commercially successful artists via folk musicSimilarly hipster culture claims to be antimainstream This is often more an aesthetic lifestyle choice than a political one Political ideas expressed in generic terms of peace and love generate coolness and brand identities removed from the complicatedness and difficulties of actual political struggles and affected communities but with some pretty mainstream profits for individual brandsWhen people speak of political ideas without acknowledging the political realities inherent in the structures theyrsquore part of the disconnect may be read as hypocrisy despite their good intentions Judging them personally may be mean minded But they too might need to understand a little differently the anger and resentment of those whose worlds they chance to replaceThese two stories are about one question Why do even successful artists feel they must prove their artrsquos value through supposed political worth instead of letting it acquire that political meaning organicallyItrsquos because art itself is devalued today It must constantly justify its existence via numbers money or worthiness The more we give in to this logic the more it threatens the world of art and artists The artistrsquos political fight may need to be for art itself for structures that recognise that art which expands our minds and unburdens our hearts is culturally valuable and socially necessary for those very reasons not othersParomita Vohra is an awardwinning Mumbaibased filmmaker writer and curator working with fiction and nonfiction Reach her at wwwparodevicomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper