Guides
Music publishing in India
How music publishing actually works in India: who claims which rights, what the national copyright system does, and what it takes for a publisher to set up and collect.
Who claims which rights
Performance and mechanical: IPRS. Sync: direct — and in the film-dominated market, producers' deals often control everything.
Copyright registration in India
Copyright is automatic; registration with the Indian Copyright Office is optional but widely recommended for evidence, given how much Indian music litigation turns on ownership proof.
Setting up to claim publishing rights
IPRS re-registered under Indian law in 2017 and has been rebuilding standard practice since. Foreign publishers work through reciprocal agreements or Indian sub-publishers; the market's film-first economics mean chain-of-title diligence on Indian co-published works deserves double attention.
The societies
IPRS — each linked page covers the society’s history and how registrations reach it.
Two free checks for your CWR file. Is the file correct? Every record, share and control total against the spec, each problem on its exact line. Do its writers match their registrations? Every writer cross-checked against public registration data, including works registered under another spelling or IPI. Nothing stored: check a file at cwrcheck.com.