The Delhi High Court It has passed an interim injunction in favor of Saregama India Limited in the copyright case relating to the iconic song “En Iniya Pon Nilave” from the Tamil film Moodu Pani, retaining the legendary music composer. Ilaiyaraaja could not assign the rights to the lyrics or sound recording of the song to a third party.Divisional Justice Bench C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla delivered the verdict while deciding Ilaiyaraaja’s appeal against a January 2025 order of the single judge.The appeal arose out of a suit filed by Saregama alleging copyright infringement of the song for playing it in the film Agathiyaa.The court heard that Ilaiyaraaja, as the composer of the original music work, retained the right to adapt and license the song after it was part of the cinematographic film Moodu Pand after the soundtrack rights were assigned to Saregama.The Bench held that while Ilaiyaraaja continued to retain the copyright in the musical composition itself, that right was limited only to the musical component of the song and did not extend to the lyrics or sound recording.The court found that under the Copyright Act, the composer remained the author and first owner of the musical work. However, the producer of the film was the first owner of the sound recording that is part of the motion picture.Most importantly, the Bench clarified that Ilaiyaraaja had the right to exploit or adapt only the musical component of the song, but could not authorize the use of the lyrics or assign rights to the sound recording itself. The court stated:“Ilaiyaraaja was therefore unable to assign the underlying lyrics of the disputed song to VFIL.”The Court further noted that the 2023 agreement between Ilaiyaraaja and Vels Film International purported to grant rights over the original song, its sound recording and underlying works. However, the Court found that Ilaiyaraaja did not own the rights to the sound recording or the lyrics and therefore could not transfer them.At the same time, the Bench disagreed with parts of the Single Judge’s reasoning and clarified that Ilaiyaraaja’s independent copyright in the musical composition is covered by Article 13.4 of the Copyright Act. that he remained protected according to the article. The court held that the copyright of the composer of the musical work was separate and subsisted even if the song was part of a motion picture.The Court also rejected it on the ground that clauses b) and c) of the first proviso to Article 17 automatically took away the ownership of Ilaiyaraaja’s musical work. According to the panel, there were no pleadings or material showing a “contract of service” or circumstances attracting such clauses.While considering the statutory scheme, the Court observed that copyright in a motion picture film and copyright in the underlying musical work could be distinguished. That Saregama validly acquired the sound recording rights in 1980 through an agreement signed between the film producer and the Gramophone Company of India, now known as Saregama.The controversy arose after Saregama objected to the use of a recreated version of “En Iniya Pon Nilave” in the upcoming film Aghathiyaa. According to Saregama, the film’s teaser revealed the use of the original song’s lyrics and composition, after which the notices were suspended and removed in January 2025.The Single Judge had earlier restricted the use of the recreated version and held that Saregama owned the sound recordings and literary and musical works of Moodu Pani’s songs.
