Amidst the ongoing debate over music copyright sparked by Tanishk BagchiSaiyaara title track claims, composer and singer Amaal Mallik has shared a cryptic post on social media that many believe refers to the larger issue. While he did not name Tanishk or the film, Amaal suggested that the industry is only now recognizing a problem he says he highlighted years ago.Sharing a selfie with a short note, Amaal wrote, “People in the music industry woke up 10 years too late. Where were you in 2015 when I was fighting the system solo :).”His comments come as talks over royalty payments have resurfaced following Tanishk Bagchi’s allegation that he is yet to receive Rs 8 lakh in royalties for the title song of Saiyaara. Yash Raj Films he has since denied any wrongdoing, stating that royalties were split equally between the song’s three songwriters in accordance with their contracts and that all contributors were paid as agreed.Amaal has long been vocal about the financial challenges songwriters and lyricists face despite the commercial success of their music. Earlier this year, in March, he spoke at length about how India’s royalty system continues to leave creators with only a small share of the revenue generated by their work.“There is a copyright system implemented from 2020. Javed Akhtar Sahab fought hard for this. The actor feels that if they are in a song, the song will be a hit. This is only 50% true. The rest 50% credit goes to the lyricist, music composer, director and finally the singer. They all need the rights to the song. Music producers do not have rights to their songs, but to the west this category also has rights to the song,” he said.To illustrate his point, Amaal referred to his hit song ‘Sooraj Dooba Hai’ from the 2015 Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Roy and explained how little the makers earned compared to the song’s long-term commercial value.“As an Indian system, we are far behind the West. Because taylor swift he has copyright, he could buy the album back and release it his way. Like for the song, Sooraj Dooba Hai, I got Rs 8 lakh and gave it all. I had to run my house, make this song. It would have taken a maximum of Rs 10 lakh. The song was made on Rs 8-10 lakh,” he said.He further claimed that while the song generated huge revenue over the years, the creators did not benefit proportionately.“My understanding is on average in the last 12 years, the song has made 65 crore rupees, I had checked it 7 years ago. Now, it would have made 100 crore rupees. Now, the song which was made on 10 crore rupees has made 100 crore rupees and what they would have given us was, all they would have given us was 100 crore rupees. food, everything, but not royalty.” he added.Amaal also explained how production costs significantly reduced his own income from the project. “I paid my team this amount. After paying everything, I have a salary of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh after doing a song,” he said.The renewed spat comes after Tanishk Bagchi alleged that ₹8 lakh in royalties for the title track of Saiyaara was not paid. In response, Yash Raj Films maintained that all financial obligations had been met.“The title song of Saiyaara was a beautiful collaboration between three composers (Tanishk Bagchi along with Faheem Abdullah and Arslan Nizami). We are deeply grateful for their brilliance in creating a timeless song that has touched a million hearts. The title song copyright has been and will continue to be shared by YRF equally, including the agreed Tank composers equally. YRF has paid each contributor their dues, as per the contract, all within mutually agreed terms and deadlines,” a YRF spokesperson said.