Culture ministry plans to set up 'cells' to educate new artists on IP registration

Hindustan Times

29-04-2025

New Delhi, The culture ministry is planning to set up dedicated "cells" in its centres, academies and other constituent units, to educate new artists about Intellectual Property Rights and to facilitate and handhold them in going for "IP registration", its secretary said on Tuesday.
Intellectual property or IP refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols, names and images used in commerce, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization website.
Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal, in his address at an event here, also said the ministry is attempting to have "GI registration" of traditional instruments across regions.
He was speaking at the event 'IP and Music: Feel the Beat of IP', hosted by FICCI, with noted lyricist Javed Akhtar present on the dais.
In his address, the culture secretary also mentioned that he had met filmmaker Shekhar Kapur earlier in the day at the Ministry of Culture.
He told the gathering, consisting of experts from music, legal and other domains, that another aspect of his ministry is working on is to "support IP registration".
"We are planning that in the information facilities, in various infrastructure that the Ministry of Culture has in various zones, our cultural centres, our Kalagrams, our academies, we create cells to educate and to do handholding of new artists to go for IP registration," Aggarwal said.
"So, whatever information or handholding or liaisoning they require, from registry authorities, we will organise workshops to inform and support, and do it especially in regional languages, because sometimes, artists practising in such languages won't have access to those resources," he said.
Some of the prominent academies under the purview of the ministry are Lalit Kala Akademi, Sahitya Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi.
The secretary said his ministry projects the work of artists and endeavours so that their work has "access to market"
"Also, we are in discussion, we hope to sign MoUs with major digital platforms, so that art forms and music which is not currently commercialised, we bring them onboard and get them market access," he said.
The ministry is also looking at festivals having music as a theme, regionally and nationally, Aggarwal said.
"Another step that the ministry is taking, to have GI registration of traditional instruments, every region will have," he said.
The secretary asserted that as a ministry, "We are looking at promoting a strong public private partnership, to have partnership with the corporate, various market players, and also with state governments, so that when we work on initiatives, we have a larger stakeholder base, and that stakeholder base can create an environment that is more sustainable, including IP protection".