In the last week of December, The Screenwriters Rights Association of India (SRAI) got the go-ahead from the registrar of copyrights Unnat P Pandit to operate as a copyright society under the Copyright Act, 1957. What that means is that it can collect royalties for dramatic works and literary works associated with dramatic works.
It’s good news for story writers, scriptwriters, dialogue writers of television shows , OTT shows and films. They can now look forward to a future where they can get royalties for their creative work.
In fact, the ScreenWriters Association (SWA) and its members were made aware of this through minister of commerce Piyush Goyal’s office which posted the SRAI certificate on social media late in the evening of 30 December.
On this positive move writer producer Aseem Arrora shares his views. ”Writers of Hindi films have been working at exploitative prices for a long. There’s been a gradual and slow change. And now all thanks to the efforts of Mr Anjum Rajabali, Vinod Ranganath and Zama Habib, who’ve spent years and out of their own pockets to fight for the entire writing fraternity, that the amendment to royalty act 2012 shall finally be realized. Writers can finally feel gratified and rewarded for their work which in turn can only encourage us to get better with our skills.” He also adds,”And that will only mean stronger scripts and better films/shows for the industry. The constitution clearly mentions unwaivable royalty to writers yet the same has been held up for decades. It’s high time that all parties sit down and gracefully allow the original creators to get what’s theirs due. This will only bring out healthier results for the industry. Please don’t just empower us in your speeches and roundtable sermons, happily allow us to get our share, our royalty. And we will come back with stronger, impactful content.”
Patriot Movie Review: Mammootty leads Patriot with control while Mohanlal and Fahadh Faasil keep it sharp
May 1, 2026Aseem has recently co-produced and written The Sabarmati Report which has got great response by critics and audience alike and is now gearing up for award shows.
