Plagiarism is relevant to different musical styles in different ways. Music plagiarism is defined as using tune, or melody that would closely imitate with another author’s music without proper attribution (Keyt 1988 Stav 2014). In contrast, as a “creative art”, music is subject to Intellectual Property, and Copyright Laws. For many years, music industry is controlled by “customary laws”, which are not obligatory and therefore subject to violation (Stav 2014). However, it is not clear whether similar focus has been made in the music industry. The concept is wilfully embraced by academics around the world and governments are in consultation with respective higher education organisations to curb this academic offence (Glendinning 2014).

It will also show some examples of the excuses/denial given by the composers and would try to highlight the attitudes of general public towards these types of activities.įrom the beginning of this century, public awareness on “academic integrity” and avoiding plagiarism has considerably increased. The paper would highlight the similarities of these music files. In fact, some of these examples’ dates to 1954, during the era when no one would have noticed plagiarism. During the investigation, it was possible to identify a vast number of plagiarised tunes, snippets, or even the full songs. Some of these individuals were also interviewed to understand their views on this. A list of plagiarised songs was produced by using YouTube® searches for “comparative videos” made by the vigilant music lovers about accused/detected music plagiarism. This study has taken the initiative to investigate the extent of plagiaristic activities within one Indian cinematic music industry. Whilst a vast majority of Indian cinemagoers may not have noticed these plagiarised tunes, some journalists and vigilant music lovers have noticed these activities. Since the expectations of the public for songs that are enjoyable are high, many music directors are seeking elsewhere to “ borrow” tunes. Unlike the traditional music, the Indian cinematic music is extremely popular amongst the public. It may occur either by stealing a musical idea (a melody or motif) or sampling (a portion of one sound, or tune is copied into a different song). Music plagiarism is defined as using tune, or melody that would closely imitate with another author’s music without proper attributions.

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