Mumbai: The Delhi High Court has restrained veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja from exploiting or licensing certain sound recordings and underlying musical works claimed by music label Saregama, in an interim order passed in a commercial suit.
The order was issued by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on February 13 while hearing a plea filed by Saregama. The label had approached the court alleging that Ilaiyaraaja uploaded and authorised the use of several of its copyrighted works on digital streaming platforms, including Amazon Music, iTunes and JioSaavn, and asserted ownership over them.
According to reports, the court observed that irreparable loss and injury may be caused to Saregama if the composer is not restrained from using the disputed sound recordings.
As per the court’s direction, the order states: “Defendant [Ilaiyaraaja], its partners or proprietors, licensees, assigns, officers, servants, agents, representatives, contractors, sister concerns and any other person working for and on behalf of the defendant are restrained from exploiting/ using/ issuing licenses for the plaintiff’s Copyrighted Works i.e. the sound recordings and literary and musical works forming a part of the said Cinematograph Films enlisted in Annexure A appended to this Order or making any claim of ownership to the third parties or issuing any license for exploitation in relation to the plaintiff’s Copyrighted Works.”
In its plea, Saregama submitted that between 1976 and 2001 it had entered into assignment agreements with producers of several cinematograph films, under which the copyright in the sound recordings and the underlying literary and musical works vested exclusively with the company on a worldwide and perpetual basis.
The label further argued that under the Copyright Act, 1957, and relevant Supreme Court rulings, a film producer is considered the first owner of copyright in works commissioned for a cinematograph film, unless agreed otherwise by contract.
Ilaiyaraaja, one of India’s most prolific composers with credits in over 1,400 films across Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi and Marathi cinema, has won multiple National Film Awards for Best Music Direction. The matter is expected to proceed further as the court examines the competing copyright claims.
