Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 2: The Delhi High Court has restrained music composer Ilaiyaraaja from broadcasting or communicating songs from 134 films in a copyright dispute with Saregama India Ltd., holding that the music label has a prima facie right over the sound recordings.

Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the interim order on Jul 1, restraining Ilaiyaraaja from broadcasting or communicating the disputed songs from films released between 1976 and 2001 until further orders.

The court observed that while Ilaiyaraaja continues to hold copyright over the original musical compositions created by him, those rights do not extend to the sound recordings incorporated into cinematograph films, the copyright of which vests with the producer and, in this case, Saregama through assignment agreements.

"The right of the defendant to adaptation is limited to the musical work, that is, the musical composition of the songs, excluding the lyrics," the court observed.

Saregama submitted that it had entered into assignment agreements with producers of several films between 1976 and 2001, acquiring ownership of the copyrights in the sound recordings and the underlying musical and literary works.

The company alleged that Ilaiyaraaja had uploaded the disputed songs on digital platforms, including Amazon Music, Apple iTunes and JioSaavn, and had also claimed ownership over the content.

The High Court held that Ilaiyaraaja's rights under the Copyright Act were confined to the musical compositions and that any exploitation of the disputed sound recordings, prima facie, amounted to copyright infringement.

"Since there is no denial to the broadcasting of songs which are the subject matter of the suit, the defendant, prima facie, appears to be indulging in acts amounting to infringement," the court said.

The order covers songs from 134 films, including popular titles such as Annakkili (1976), 16 Vayathiniley (1977), Mullum Malarum (1978), Netrikkann (1981) and Raaja Paarvai (1981).