New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has passed an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of Saregama India Limited in a copyright infringement suit against noted music composer Ilaiyaraaja, restraining him from exploiting certain cinematograph films’ sound recordings and musical works claimed by the company.
A single-judge Bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing a commercial suit filed by Saregama seeking to restrain Ilaiyaraaja from granting unauthorised licences to third parties and from making ownership claims over works in which the plaintiff asserts exclusive copyright.
In its order, the Delhi High Court noted that Saregama, formerly known as “The Gramophone Company of India Limited”, had entered into various assignment agreements between 1976 and 2001 with producers of cinematograph films, under which the copyright in the sound recordings, musical and literary works of the songs vested in it.
According to the plaint, the defendant was found in the first week of February 2026 to have uploaded certain works on platforms such as Amazon Music, iTunes and Jio Saavn, and to have made ownership claims over the content.
After perusing the assignment agreements and other documents placed on record, Justice Gedela observed that “the material placed on record like assignment agreements assigning exclusive copyrights to the plaintiff in respect of the sound recordings, musical and literary works embodied in the cinematograph films, coupled with the detailed inlay cards and the purported infringement of the copyrighted works of the plaintiff by the defendant, a prima facie, strong case in favour of the plaintiff is shown”.
The Delhi High Court further held that “the balance of convenience appears to be tilted in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant” and that the “irreparable loss and injury which may be caused to the plaintiff on account of the purported infringement by the defendant may not be adequately compensated in monetary terms in case ex-parte ad-interim injunction is not granted”.
Referring to Section 17(b) and (c) of the Copyright Act, 1957, the plaintiff argued that a film producer becomes the first owner of copyright in works incorporated in a cinematograph film, unless there is a contract to the contrary with the composer or lyricist.
In its operative directions, the Delhi High Court restrained the defendant, his partners, licensees, assigns, agents or any person acting on his behalf from “exploiting/ using/ issuing licenses for the plaintiff’s Copyrighted Works i.e. the sound recordings and literary and musical works forming a part of the said Cinematograph Films enlisted in Annexure A… or making any claim of ownership to the third parties or issuing any license for exploitation in relation to the plaintiff’s Copyrighted Works”.
The suit covers a catalogue of over 130 cinematograph films across multiple languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films listed in Annexure A to the order.
It directed the defendant to file a reply to the interim application within four weeks from service, with rejoinder, if any, to be filed within two weeks thereafter. Justice Gedela also ordered compliance with Order XXXIX Rule 3 of the CPC within 10 days. The matter has been listed before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) on April 24, 2026, for completion of service and pleadings, and before the Delhi High Court on April 2, 2026.
–IANS
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