Melam & Copyright Infringement

The slowly rising crescendo of a Melam during Temple ulsavam - the Chenda, Valamthala, ilathalam, Kurunkuzhal & kombu - hits the natural rhythm of the human body and involuntarily the beat takes over. The adrenaline rush after any Melam cannot be explained in words and must be experienced. 

Melam is an integral part of any ulsavam especially in the central area of Kerala. The most famous is the Ilanjithara Melam in Thrissur.

Every temple worths it’s salt try to get hold of leading percussionist like Peruvanam Kuttan Marar, Mattanoor Shankarankutty, Sateeshan Marar, Cherussery Kuttan Marar,  Dr. Thiruvalla Radhakrishnan who have total grasp of the tala & vinyasa through practice of very many years.

And Ernakulathappan Temple is no different.

Every year almost all these artists make their appearance over the 7 day ulsavam @ernakulathappantemplecomplex in Makaram.

And I take immense pleasure in doing LIVE telecast of the same on YouTube and Facebook.

One, it is a permanent record of the beautiful art.

Two, Melam lovers across the world can watch & enjoy the same as it happens.

Three, people can hear the maestros again and again.

But sadly, over the years a new trend has crept.

“Copyright infringement”.

Being the admin of the page, I get emails upon emails saying that the content is ‘“your video has been blocked in certain countries’” or “your video is muted.”

There are programs like karaoke which I agree has the same music and the sound engineer usually dissuades dancers from using stage recording for their performance.

The above message refers to this Live telecast of the Kazhcha Sheeveli recorded on Day 5 of Ernakulathappan ulsavam 2021.Day 5 melam

But how can live recordings of Melam or kutcheri be infringement?

Who has rights over this music?

Did Saint Thyagaraja claim copyright?

Does the raga belong to someone?

How can Sony Music Entertainment say Ilanjithara Melam is their copyrighted content?