Patari threatened with legal action from Pakistan’s leading record label

Patari, an upcoming music streaming website for Pakistani music has been threatened with legal action from one of Pakistan’s leading music label – EMI. Patari invoked the memories of folklore years at the time of its beta launch a few months ago. You can hear mesmerizing music available from a range of past and present legends such as Abida Parveen, Iqbal Bano or Madam Noor Jehan etc.

But all these dreams to access your favorite artists online has taken a hit. EMI has decided to take matters into their own hands and threatened Patari with legal action. It has requested Patari to remove all music collection from the website which is an infringement of copyright laws. With this move, Patari had to comply to EMI’s request and remove songs of 60,000 Pakistani artists and 70% of the total music produced in Pakistan. Major artists of an era gone by from decades ago had deals with EMI which gave the latter a major chunk of the music market and massive control.

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Meanwhile, Khalid Bajwa, co-founder of Patari, stated in a tweet, “If EMI does not relent, we will openly call into question their ownership of the rights and get the royalties to its rightful owners.”

EMI objected the means with which the music has been uploaded without their consent though they persist that they have no issues with Patari. In order to gain legitimacy in the eyes of EMI, Patari has to ensure that all the music available on their website is licensed irrespective of whom it belongs to.

Copyright laws globally have become a significant bone of contention for artists and record labels alike. Whether it is Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora or Patari in Pakistan, the amount of copyright infringement lawsuits being faced are limitless. Pakistan’s problems stem from the fact, that in the absence of robust copyright laws, massive infringements have been taking place for decades now.

Patari’s future is heavily dependent on the roster of music available from EMI subject to a deal. The fight is on for Patari, but let’s see what the future holds for them.