Early mornings in Chennai or Hyderabad, along with the azaan call and ringing of temple bells, amidst the aroma of steaming idlis and filter coffee, the strains of a Thyagaraja kirtanai too will waft in the air. But who owns Thyagaraja’s music? Big music labels claim it’s theirs and music channels on YouTube that upload videos of Carnatic music concerts face their wrath and an unequal battle.

Parivadini, a music channel that uplo­ads performances of Carnatic classical music, including renditions of compositions of the legendary Thyagaraja (1767-1847)—composer of over 24,000 songs of which about 700 are extant—is the most recent victim. It had, after taking permission of the organisers and per­f­ormers, uploaded live webcasts of concerts of Carnatic music where Thya­garaja’s com­positions were being sung. Last month, Parivadini got a notice of copyright infr­ingement from YouTube for a recording it uploaded, as a music label claimed the Thyagaraja composition (and not that particular recording—they claim,...