Javed Akhtar appointed Vice-President of International Association of Copyrights

The redoubtable Javed Akhtar’s three-year long battle to secure copyright benefits for writers and musicians, has now gone global. In what must be regarded as a singular honour for an Indian artiste Javed Saab has been appointed the Vice President of the International Confederation Of Authors & Composers Society(CISAC). He is the first Indian to be bestowed with this honour. The CISAC monitors, guards and checks copyright laws all over the world for every form of creative pursuit. In principle, Javed Saab will now be fighting for copyright laws for artistes all over the world. Speaking from Washington about the unexpected appointment Javed Saab said, “Very frankly, I am pleasantly surprised by this honour. I guess my battle for copyright and royalty for Indian musicians reached this very prestigious global forum. As you might be aware, the CISAC comprises 121 countries. The apex body looks out for copyright issues in all these countries. So I’d say it’s a very big responsibility.” Shedding light on how he was selected for the honour Javed Saab says, “Back in 2011, I was at the CISAC headquarters in Brussells to give the keynote address at their summit. There, I spoke about my fight against copyright violation in India. I think they were impressed enough to follow my fight in India. And when the Indian parliament passed a copyright bill in favour of writers and musicians the CISAC must have taken a decision to invite me on board as Vice-President. It’s an honour, yes but also a huge responsibility.”