The Delhi High Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of music label Saregama India Ltd. in a copyright dispute with composer Ilaiyaraaja. The court restrained him from broadcasting or communicating songs from 134 films dating back to 1976 until further orders.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that while Ilaiyaraaja retains copyright over his musical compositions, those rights do not cover the sound recordings in the films, which belong to the producer, Saregama.
The court clarified that Ilaiyaraaja’s rights under Section 14(a) of the Copyright Act regarding adaptation apply only to the musical compositions, excluding lyrics.
Saregama stated it acquired rights through assignment agreements with film producers between 1976 and 2001, covering sound recordings and underlying musical and literary works. The company accused Ilaiyaraaja of unauthorized uploads on platforms including Amazon Music, iTunes, and JioSaavn, along with ownership claims over the material.
The court found that Ilaiyaraaja’s rights are limited to musical compositions and that any use of the disputed sound recordings would likely constitute infringement. Since there was no denial of the broadcasts, the court observed that Ilaiyaraaja appeared to be infringing the copyrights.
The ruling applies to 134 films, among them Annakkili (1976), 16 Vayathiniley (1977), Mullum Malarum (1978), Netrikkann (1981), and Raaja Paarvai (1981).
