During her first official visit to India, Ms Sylvie Forbin, Deputy Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), held an exclusive closed-door roundtable with the Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. (IPRS) in Mumbai, marking a significant milestone for the country’s entertainment and creative sector. To discuss the broad role that intellectual property rights (IPR) play in preserving creativity, fostering innovation, and forming future frameworks in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation, the high-level meeting brought together leading figures from India’s music and entertainment sector, including lyricists, composers, screenwriters, music labels, publishers, legal experts, industry bodies, and policymakers.

Renowned author, poet, lyricist, and IPRS Chairman Mr. Javed Akhtar chaired the session, which provided a strategic forum for discussion on the importance of IP rights both nationally and internationally. It emphasised the necessity of more robust intellectual property ecosystems that support a sustainable creative economy in addition to safeguarding rights.

“Rights and royalties were not the only topic of this roundtable. It was about realising that the core of any cultural narrative is its creators. We sought to advance the conversation on equitable compensation, copyright protection, and future-ready frameworks, particularly in light of AI and digital transformation, through this discussion with WIPO. IPRS is still dedicated to making sure that every voice behind the music is acknowledged, valued, and compensated,” said IPRS Chairman, Mr. Javed Akhtar.

The participants included Mr. Rakesh Nigam- CEO of Indian Performing Right Society; Blaise Fernandes -President & CEO, Indian Music Industry; Zaman Habib- General Secretary, Screenwriters Association; Sridhar J Swaminathan- Secretary, SIMCA;  Sanjay Tandon – CEO, ISAMRA, Atul Churamani -Founder and MD of Turnkey Music & Publishing Pvt. Ltd; Dinraj Shetty – MD Sony Music Publishing, Vipin Mishra – MCAI, Ameet Dutta- Founder of  ADP Law; Salim Merchant- Singer & Director, Kausar Munir – Lyricist & Poet, Sneha Khanwalkar – Music Composer, Vishal Dadlani – Singer & Music Composer, Lohita Sujith – MPA, Vinod Ranganathan, CEO SRAI, and many others.

The main takeaways from the roundtable were IP as a Growth Enabler, Global-Local Synergy, Preparing for the AI Era, Institutional Strengthening, Building a Unified Voice, Elevating the Role of Creators in Policy-Making, Copyright Education & Awareness, Strengthening Collective Management Organisations (CMOs), Data and Metadata Integrity, Cultural Exchange and International Cooperation and Youth and Innovation.

Priyanka Dutta