PBC to refund royalty for song it never produced | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

PBC to refund royalty for song it never produced

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) clarified on Wednesday that the national song Hum Mustafavi Hein, composed on the occasion of 2nd Islamic summit held in Lahore in 1974, is not a production of Radio Pakistan.

A statement issued by the PBC said this song was produced by Pakistan Television. It was written by Jamiluddin Aali and sung by Mehdi Zaheer, a producer of Radio Pakistan.

According to PBC’s information, the composer of this song was Sohail Rana.

Olper’s, a milk company, used this musical composition in one of its advertisements, and assuming that this was a production of Radio Pakistan paid an amount of Rs50,000 as royalty to PBC.

Receiving it inadvertently, the PBC is ready to refund the amount.

However, the statement said, PBC was not competent to determine the ownership of this piece of music. It will refund the amount after determining ownership rights of this song.

Senator Shirala Mallick raised the issue in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting.
Source: Dawn
Date:3/18/2010