'The theft of Pakistani music continues': Hadiqa Kiani on Bollywood using her songs without permission

Musician and actor Hadiqa Kiani is not okay with artists making use of her music without asking for permission or crediting her original pieces. The 'Humsafar' singer would feel "flattered" by the "tribute" if they'd only do it respectfully, instead of just trying to "profit off someone else's hit song."

Indian singer Kanika Kapoor released her rendition of 'Boohey Barian' on April 28 without crediting Kiani. The 'Jaanan' singer shared a screenshot of the music video on her Instagram story to discuss the matter and got very candid about how much it unsettled her. "Another day and another shameless rendition of the song my mother wrote. No one asked for my permission, no one has given me royalties, they just take the song that my mother wrote and I recorded, and use it as an easy money making scheme," she wrote in her long note.

The 'Hona Tha Pyaar' singer said her song has been "stolen" multiple times in Bollywood films that have starred the likes of Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta and countless times by singers who both perform on stage and those who produce music videos based on the covers. "Some of these cover videos have received almost 200 million views on YouTube. The latter gives me 'credit' by saying 'original song: 'Boohey Barian' by Hadiqa Kiani'," she added.

The 'Kamli' singer juxtaposed this behaviour with hers and said when she sings the cover of a song, she brings rights to the song, asks for permission or pays royalties to the artist because that's what she considers the "ethical way to do things."

"I'm alive and well, if you want [to] sing my songs, ask me first..." the Dobara actor set down how she expects other artists to proceed if they want to use her music. She added that she wants to feel good about the covers because it's "flattering" but there is a "right and wrong way to do something" and "profiting off of someone else's hit song" is not the way to go about it.

She clarified that she holds no personal grudges against the singers who sing her song. "I'm just upset with the way that they all seem to go about the process..." she added. "Anyways. The theft of Pakistani music continues."

Kiani also posted a screenshot of the comment section where her fans called out the "theft" and stood up for her, saying the song's a copy. "Grateful to my fans and supporters. These people will buy million fake views and fake comments but real people know the truth," she wrote.

She posted another section of the comments that was flooded with emojis captioned, "How to spot fake and PAID comments from bots on Instagram. Shameless."

Stealing an artist's content or work is a very serious issue — artists put a lot effort into creating something that's original and theirs. To have someone steal your intellectual property is not okay and people should always ask for permission and credit the artist — there is no other way to go about it than having the content owner in the loop and part of the process.