The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with a Delhi High Court ruling that music composer Ilaiyaraaja did not own the copyright in the lyrics and sound recording of the popular song “En Iniya Pon Nilave” from the Tamil film Moodu Pani, holding that the rights in the sound recording vested with music label Saregama.
Ilaiyaraaja had argued that as the composer and author of the musical work, he remained the first owner of copyright in the composition and that Section 13(4) of the Copyright Act, 1957 protected his independent copyright even after the composition was incorporated into a cinematograph film. Saregama objected to the use of the recreated version, asserting that it owned the copyright in the original sound recording by virtue of an assignment from the film’s producer. It also held that he could not have assigned to Vels Film International rights that he himself did not own. The division bench had affirmed the injunction granted by a single judge restraining the use of the recreated version of the song in Aghathiyaa.
The dispute arose after Vels Film International Ltd recreated “En Iniya Pon Nilave” for its film Aghathiyaa, claiming to have obtained the necessary rights from Ilaiyaraaja. It held that the copyright in the sound recordings of Moodu Pani, including “En Iniya Pon Nilave”, had vested with RCA, the original rights holder, and was subsequently transferred to Saregama under a February 25, 1980 agreement. “Without a licence, or permission, from SIL, therefore, VFIL could not have exploited any of the sound recordings contained in the film Moodu Pani, including the sound recording relating to the song En Iniya Pon Nilave,” the high court had said, holding that the recreation/adaptation of the sound recording amounted to infringement of Saregama’s copyright.
The Delhi High Court, in its earlier proceedings, held that Ilaiyaraaja retained copyright in the musical work — the tune or composition, but not in the sound recording or the lyrics of the song.
