The court’s order came on a plea by Saregama India against Vels Film for infringement of its copyright in the literary and musical work of the song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’
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The Delhi High Court has recently ruled that Vels Film International Limited, producer of upcoming movie ‘Aghathiyaa’ cannot use the song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’ without license from Saregama India Limited, which hold the copyright in the original song from the film ‘Moodu Pani’.
The court, however, considering that Vels Film has invested “significant moneys” for recreation of the sound recording of the song allowed it to use the song in its upcoming film, subject to deposit of ₹30 lakh with the Registrar General of the Court.
“This Court is of the view that irreparable loss shall be caused to the defendant no. 1 (Vels Film), if it is restrained from using the song, which already forms part of its cinematograph film, ‘Aghathiyaa,” the court noted in its January 30 order.
The court’s order came on a plea by Saregama India against Vels Film for infringement of its copyright in the literary and musical work of the song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’ from the 1980 film ‘Moodu Pani’.
Saregama India argued that the producer of the film ‘Moodu Pani’, i.e., Raja Cine Arts, entered into an agreement with it (then known as ‘The Gramophone Company of India Limited’) for the sound recordings and the musical and literary works in the songs of the film ‘Moodu Pani’, including, the song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’.
Recently, on January 9, 2025, Saregama India said it was “shocked” to come across a teaser of the film ‘Aghathiyaa’, on various social media platforms, in which included a ‘recreation’ of the song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’.
Vels Film, however, responded to legal notice sent by Saregama India saying that it had taken a license to “adapt, record/recreate” from the music composer of the original song.
The court, which then went into the basic question as to whether the copyright in the song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’ vests in the Saregama India, or as to whether the copyright of the vests with the music composer of the song.
It concluded that as per Section 17 of the Copyright Act, the producer of a film or a sound recording, is the first owner of the copyright in the sound recordings, literary works, musical works and other works, which form a part of the film.
“…No copyright subsists in the composer of the music so composed, unless there is a contract to the contrary between the composer of the music and producer of the cinematograph film,” it added.
“The defendant no. 3, as the music composer, has no copyright over the literary work, i.e., the lyrics or the sound recording. Therefore, having no rights over the lyrics of the song, there is no question of defendant no. 3 having any right to assign rights in the lyrics of the song to a third party,” the court said.
Published – February 01, 2025 03:22 pm IST
