New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday refused to interfere with the Delhi High Court order restraining the use of the song “En Iniya Pon Nilave” from the Tamil film “Moodu Pani” without a licence from Saregama India Ltd.
A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K. Vinod Chandran dismissed the special leave petition (SLP) filed by music composer Ilaiyaraaja, challenging the Delhi High Court’s interim order in his copyright dispute with Saregama India Ltd.
The apex court, while dismissing the plea, held that no error, “not to speak of any error of law”, could be said to have been committed by the High Court in granting the injunction sought by Saregama.
The Justice Pardiwala-led Bench also clarified, on a request made on behalf of Ilaiyaraaja, that the findings in the Delhi High Court judgment were prima facie and would not operate as a precedent on the merits of the dispute.
“It is needless to clarify that the observations in the impugned judgment are prima facie, for the purpose of deciding the issue in question,” it said.
The dispute pertains to Saregama’s claim that Vels Film International Ltd (VFIL) had infringed its copyright by recreating the song “En Iniya Pon Nilave” for its film “Aghathiyaa”, based on a licence obtained from Ilaiyaraaja.
In its judgment passed May 21, the Delhi High Court had held that copyright in the sound recording of the song vested with Saregama, while Ilaiyaraaja continued to hold copyright in the underlying musical work composed by him.
A division bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla had observed that Ilaiyaraaja’s rights were limited to the musical component of the song and did not extend to its lyrics or the original sound recording. It held that without a licence or permission from Saregama, VFIL could not exploit the sound recordings contained in “Moodu Pani”, including the sound recording relating to “En Iniya Pon Nilave”.
“By recreating/adapting the said sound recording, therefore, VFIL has infringed the copyright of SIL,” the High Court had said.
The division bench had consequently concurred with the single judge’s decision granting an injunction and dismissing Ilaiyaraaja’s appeal.
The High Court had also examined an agreement entered into March 17, 2023, between Ilaiyaraaja and VFIL, under which the composer had granted the producer rights to adapt and recreate the original song and its underlying works. However, the High Court held that Ilaiyaraaja was not the owner of copyright in the original sound recording or the lyrics and, therefore, could not have assigned those rights to VFIL.
The case originated from the 1980 agreement between the producer of “Moodu Pani” and Saregama’s predecessor, under which copyright in the sound recordings contained in the film was transferred to the company for consideration in the form of royalty. The Delhi High Court had held that Saregama consequently became the owner of the copyright in the sound recordings contained in “Moodu Pani”, including “En Iniya Pon Nilave”.
