NEW DELHI: Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni submitted her resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday, a day before the cabinet reshuffle.

Soni?s resignation comes just four days before the sunset date for analogue cable television in the four metros of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. Cable TV delivery in the four metros will mandatorily have to be via digital set-top boxes (STBs) from 1 November.

The Congress party has decided to utilise the servies of Soni in preparing the party for the 2014 general elections. Soni felt privileged to have been asked to work to strengthen the party cadres just over a year before the next general elections.

Soni, who will turn 70 on 13 November, is a member of the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. She became I and B Minister on 22 May 2009, and was tourism minister prior to that from 29 January 2006.

She has served as Indian Youth Congress president during emergency in 1975, and became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time in March 1976. She also served as general secretary of the Congress from 1999 to 2006.

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NEW DELHI: The Copyright (Amendment) Bill 2012 received Parliamentary approval on the last date of the budget session, with the Lok Sabha passing it unanimously today.

The Rajya Sabha had passed the legislation late last week. The legislation will now go to the President Pratibha Devisingh Patil for her assent, before it is notified and becomes law.

The legislation had been opposed in Parliament in its last session, particularly the clause for statutory licensing for radio broadcast of literary and musical works.

Song writers, artistes and performers received unanimous support from members from all parties in the Lok Sabha for their claim to get royalty for their creations, with many MPs pointing out that the benefits of the songs have so far been kept by producers.

The bill declares authors as owners of the copyright, which cannot be assigned to the producers as was the practice till now.

Noting that artistes had been left in the lurch as the producers cornered all the royalties, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said in reply to a brief debate that the new law will help them live a good life even in old age as they would continue to get their dues for their work.

He gave examples of Shehnai exponent Bismillah Khan and music composer Ravi to press home the point that the condition of such excellent artistes was pitiable as they were not able to pay even house rent and hospital charges.

It will now become mandatory for broadcasters - both radio and television - to pay royalty to the owners of the copyright each time a work of art is broadcast. It bans people from bringing out cover versions of any literary, dramatic or musical work for five years from the first recording of the original creation.

The bill also seeks to remove operational difficulties and address newer issues related to the digital world.

However, a provision initially placed in the Bill to provide royalty to the principal director of a film in keeping with the suggestion of the Parliamentary Standing Committee has been removed. "We wanted to actually give this right over royalty to principal director. He is perhaps principal creator. But there was a feeling expressed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee that the time is not ripe to give that right. So, we are dropping it," Sibal had told the Rajya Sabha.

The cabinet had earlier deferred moving the bill because of differences between the Information and Broadcasting and HRD Ministries. It was understood that the two Ministries in their ?fine tuning? exercise had also agreed to restore the provision of statutory licensing as proposed earlier in 2010.

The amendments to the Copyright Act 1958, aim at according unassignable rights to ?creative artists? such as lyricists, playback singers, music directors, film directors, dialogue writers who will be paid royalty every time the movie they have worked in is aired on a television channel.

A statutory licence is an exception under Copyright Act. It puts limits on the basic principle of the copyright law, that authors and creators should have the exclusive right to control the dissemination of their work. Under statutory licensing, the royalty or remuneration for the author or creator is specified by law or such set negotiation.

With the bill getting clearance, the statutory licensing clause will not specify users allowing for television and new media broadcasters as well as radio broadcasters to benefit.

MUMBAI: In a move that will help artists, professionals and content creators to protect their work, the Rajya Sabha on Thursday approved the Copyright Amendment Bill which brings Indian laws in conformity with global norms.

The bill also seeks to remove operational difficulties and address newer issues related to the digital world.

Copyright Amendment Bill brought cheer to music directors and lyricists who will now have a share of the profits earned on their work.

The bill, though, will be sans a clause which provided a provision of giving royalty to the principal director of a film in keeping with the suggestion of the Parliamentary Standing Committee.

"We wanted to actually give this right over royalty to principle director. He is perhaps principal creator. But there was a feeling expressed by Parliamentary Standing Committee that time is not ripe to give that right. So, we are dropping (it)," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said in the upper house of the parliament.

Sibal said piracy issue has been dealt with properly in the bill as also the work of dubbing artists which would be protected by the act.

"We are in the midst of a new era, which I call digital era. In this digital era, the nature of rights of stakeholders need to be looked afresh," he added.

Rajya Sabha and noted lyricist Javed Akhtar, during a Parliamentary discussion, complained that writers and singers do not get to taste the fruits of commercial success as music companies dictate terms. ?They even dictate terms to noted musicians like AR Rahman and others,? he said.

The bill tackles seven broad areas: right of author and music composer, right to visually impaired, extending compulsory regime to unpublished work and imposition of punitive action, among others.

Earlier, the government had cleared the bill by amending the Copyright Act 1958 with the aim to provide ?unassignable rights? to ?creative artists? such as lyricists, playback singers, music directors, film directors and dialogue writers who will be paid royalty every time the movie they have worked in is aired on a television channel.

The bill was earlier deferred due to differences between the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and Human Resource Development Ministry.