Yash Raj Films, Aditya Chopra in legal trouble for allegedly pocketing Rs 100 crores from music royalties

An FIR  was registered on Wednesday against production house Yash Raj Films and its directors for allegedly pocketing Rs 100 crore from music royalties. The royalties, the report states, belong to members of the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS). The FIR has been registered by Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police, according to news reports. 

The IPRS has filed a complaint against the production house with the EOW.

The Society alleged that Yash Raj Films did not let them collect royalties from telecom companies, radio stations and music streaming platforms. The FIR mentions the names of YRF directors Aditya and Uday Chopra. 

The complainant claimed the IPRS has the exclusive right to collect royalties on behalf of artists and music producers but the YRF collected it without authorization. "Yash Raj Films Company and its directors allegedly pocketed Rs 100 crore by collecting music royalties of members of the Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS)," the official said quoting the complaint.

The case has been registered under sections 409 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Copyright Act, the official added. "Since this is a legal case the board can't comment about it until tomorrow (Thursday)," stated a representative of the IPRS.

The Yash Raj Films has not issued any statement yet.

(With Agency inputs)