What Happened: On Sunday, prominent TV and film actors took to social media with the hashtag #GiveRoyaltiesToArtists. Each personality involved posted the same image, which also got the issue trending on Twitter. High profile celebrities such as Mahira Khan, Mansha Pasha and Asad Siddiqui spearheaded the movement.
The Demand: Drama series and film re-runs have become commonplace on all major TV channels. Globally, when such instances occur, the artists involved in the production must be paid royalties for their work. However, no such culture exists in Pakistan. The Context: The conversation about royalties began after renowned TV actress Naila Jaffery requested TV channels to pay her royalties for the re-runs of her shows so that she could support her cancer treatment. This sparked questions regarding why this was not already practiced in the industry, since re-runs of popular shows are frequent.
My dear friend and a renowned TV actor Naila Jafri has been fighting Cancer since last 6 years. The battle is very expensive. In this video she requests if the channel owners pay royalty to her previous work’s re runs it will be of great help to her. pic.twitter.com/AYc6TOTRB7
— Furqan T. Siddiqui (@furqantsiddiqui) April 4, 2021