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Short-video app, Roposo, has just been hit with an infringement lawsuit from India’s biggest music label, T-Series. The latter company are seeking an injunction to prevent the video app from utilising any content protected by copyright, after allegations of wilful infringement. T-Series state in their suit that Roposo is generating revenue through unauthorised musical content, which can be accessed by a user in the ‘Music Library’, consisting of T-Series’ music.
This left the company in a position to financially benefit from users utilising the content protected by copyright, without having to pay a license fee to T-Series. Roposo’s popularity increased in India after their ban of TikTok, witnessing a staggering jump from 5.5 million to 13.2 million downloads in the space of one week. Therefore, it is no wonder that T-Series were quick to ensure the giant was not going to pursue the use of unauthorised music for much longer.
T-series were involved in a similar dispute last year, as they found social media platform named ShareChat to be utilising their music without a license. This matter was only settled days ago, with the signing of a licensing deal, leaving ShareChat to legally use the music they provide. However, that may not be the end result for the current matter, as T-series are seeking an injunction against the defendant. However, it is likely Rosposo will do everything in their power to keep their Music Library even if it means paying damages on top of a licensing fee. This could potentially sway T-Series into entering a licensing deal, similarly to their now-resolved dispute with ShareChat.
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Conclusion
Roposo has frequently emphasized its commitment to ethical content moderation, but it appears that the same level of dedication is not applied to their copyright practices, which has landed them in legal trouble. T-Series, while criticizing Roposo as “music pirates” and a cause for embarrassment to its investors, has expressed openness to licensing their content.
Recently, Sharechat entered into a licensing agreement with Roposo after facing similar infringement allegations from T-Series. Roposo, boasting over 90 million downloads and featuring prominent personalities like Amol Parashar in their marketing campaigns, has gained substantial financial value. It is likely that Roposo will follow a similar path and sign a licensing agreement to resolve the situation. If such an agreement is not reached, T-Series might resort to legal action against Roposo, contradicting Roposo’s slogan of “The world is watching.”
It is worth noting that the licensing rules have significantly impacted the potential for user-generated content (UGC) that TikTok had begun to unlock in India. Anupriya highlighted their impact on freedom of expression and cultural output, especially for marginalized communities, but there are also business implications. TikTok had introduced UGC as an innovative marketing technique for engaging with Gen Z consumers, who prefer “S-I-N-C” campaigns (Short-form, Influencer Driven, Native, and Co-Created). However, these licensing requirements will eventually limit the Indian UGC market to a few major businesses by imposing substantial royalties on significant players like T-Series.
Moreover, smaller Indian alternatives with limited economies of scale could offset these expenses by reducing the revenue split with UGC content creators. This would lead to the same pay disparities that existed on TikTok, which the Indian alternatives aimed to address. It is interesting to note that Gulshan Kumar allegedly launched T-Series by illicitly distributing pirated Bollywood music. Currently, T-Series generates approximately 70% of its revenue from online royalties.
