THE High Court has granted permission to 30 artistes to take legal action against the Performers’ Rights and Interest Society of Malaysia Bhd (PRISM) over non-receipt of royalty payments since 2017.

Judge Ahmad Murad Abdul Aziz made the ruling in accordance with Section 471 of the Companies Act 2016. 

Among the artistes concerned are Jamal Ubaidillah Ali (popularly known as Jamal Abdillah), Irwan Shah Abdullah (DJ Dave); Shamsuddin Jaafar (J Sham), Azharina Azhar, and Haris Fadzilah Daud (Aris Ariwatan).

The singers and musicians filed the application on December 8, 2022, naming PRISM as the respondent. 

In his supporting affidavit, Jamal stated that PRISM had been declared a licensing body under Section 27A of the Copyright Act 1987 to carry out the collection and distribution of music royalties on behalf of its members consisting of singers and musicians.

He alleges that the now-defunct body had failed to collect and distribute the royalties that the applicants were entitled to receive between 2017 and 2021. 

Therefore, the applicants are seeking a declaration that PRISM was negligent in carrying out its duties as a trustee to collect and distribute royalties to all applicants as well as an order for the body to pay the royalties collected from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2021, among other things.

Lawyer Kamaruzaman Arif, representing all the applicants, told reporters the court’s decision had set a new benchmark for artistes’ rights. 

According to him, the artists would take legal action against PRISM as soon as possible to find out how the royalty calculation was made. 

“We know the royalties were collected in 2017 and 2018, but there is no information on whether the money was collected or not in the following years.

“The parties involved need to explain to the court why the artistes are not getting their royalty payments when their songs are being played on the radio,” he said.

Jamal, whose songs have dominated the airwaves since the 1980s, said he was grateful for today’s decision and hoped that artistes would not be oppressed in future. 

Fellow artiste Aris Ariwatan, known for songs such as “Lamunan Terhenti” and “Permaidani”, said it was a turning point for all local artistes.

The 30 applicants were represented by lawyers Nik Suhaimi Nik Sulaiman, Sofiah Omar, and Muhammad Izzat Dzulkafli while the official receivers and liquidators – who are also senior federal counsels from the Kuala Lumpur Department of Insolvency – Rahni Kartini Abd Rahim and Norizan Omar were also present at today’s proceeding. – Bernama, June 1, 2023.