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 system allows them to negotiate independent contracts with producers, marking a significant shift from previous practices.

The reform addresses longstanding issues in Bollywood, where writers and composers often faced credit omission and delayed payments. Writer Varun Grover highlights this problem, noting how even renowned lyricists like Gulzar and Javed Akhtar sometimes go uncredited on popular platforms.

MCAI president Vishal Bhardwaj emphasizes that this agreement goes beyond credit attribution – it's about ensuring respect and independence for all creative contributors in the industry. The initiative represents a major step toward protecting artistic rights and fostering fair collaboration.

The SWA, representing over 57,000 fellow members across multiple Indian languages, serves as a trade union for writers in film, television, and digital platforms. This diverse membership includes creators from Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and numerous other regional languages, with 8,000 regular members.

While the Indian film industry takes this significant step, filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh notes that building a comprehensive infrastructure for writers' rights, similar to Hollywood's, remains a work in progress. However, this agreement marks an essential first step in recognizing and protecting creative professionals in Indian cinema.

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