A spate of copyright-violation notices issued to video channels on YouTube for uploading Carnatic music rendition of compositions of saint Thyagaraja, has raised the hackles of musicians and fans of the art form. An online petition has now been launched asking YouTube to initiate a discussion on the matter, which musicians feel strike at the heart of the art form. The issue escalated after ‘Parivadini,’ a popular video channel in the Carnatic music circles, uploaded on YouTube a recording of a concert in Chennai marking the World Music Day. Almost immediately, the owners of the channel received violation notices claiming that certain compositions of Thyagaraja, which were part of the concert performance, were in fact copyrighted material of few famous ...

Read More »