Khaitan & Co Represents Saregama India In Copyright Proceedings Against Ilaiyaraja

The Division Bench of Delhi High Court has upheld the injunction granted by the Single Judge against music composer Ilaiyaraja in a copyright infringement suit restraining Ilaiyaraja and Vels Film International from exploiting the copyrighted works of Saregama India.

High Court has upheld an interim injunction granted in favour of Saregama India Limited in a copyright dispute concerning the iconic song "En Iniya Pon Nilave" from the Tamil film Moodu Pani, holding that Ilaiyaraja could not assign rights over the lyrics or sound recording of the song to a third party.

The Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash after considering the submissions of Saregama observed that without a license, or permission, from Saregama, Vels Film International could not have exploited any of the sound recordings contained in the film Moodu Pani and Ilaiyaraja could not have assigned rights to Vels film.

The Division Bench has re-affirmed the findings of the Single Judge holding that Saregama is the owner of the copyrighted works subject matter of the suit. Ilaiyaraaja challenged the Single Judge’s January 2025 order. He argued that as the original composer of the musical work, he retained the right to adapt and license the song. His legal team also argued that clauses (b) and (c) of the first proviso to Section 17 of the Copyright Act automatically took away his ownership.

Saregama India was represented by Senior Advocate - Mr J Sai Deepak, along with Khaitan and Co. team comprising Partner Ankur Sangal, Principal Associate Ankit Arvind, Senior Associate Shashwat Rakshit and Associate Rishabh Rao.