The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by renowned music composer Ilaiyaraaja, seeking transfer of a copyright suit involving over 536 of his musical works, from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, Justice Vinod Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria disposed of the plea involving the copyright ownership of over 500 musical works composed by Ilaiyaraaja, one of India’s most celebrated music directors, whose compositions spanned more than 7,500 songs across 1,500 films.
In January 2022, Sony Music Entertainment India moved the Bombay High Court, seeking an injunction against Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Private Limited (IMMPL) from using 536 works that Sony claimed to have acquired from Oriental Records and Echo Recording.
IMMPL filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking transfer of this suit to the Madras High Court, citing overlapping issues and concerns of judicial propriety.
Ilaiyaraaja’s company argued that 310 out of the 536 works claimed by Sony were already subject to proceedings in the Madras High Court, arising from a 2014 suit filed by IMMPL against Echo Recording. Ilaiyaraaja challenged the Echo Recordings’ rights over his compositions, seeking moral and economic rights under the Copyright Act.
In 2015, the Madras High Court granted interim relief. In 2019, it held that while Echo retained sound recording rights, Ilaiyaraaja continued to hold moral and special rights over the compositions. The High Court observed that the assignment to Agi Music, made by Ilaiyaraaja’s late wife Jeevaraja in 2007, expired in 2012.
Following the 2019 verdict, Echo assigned its catalogue to Oriental Records, which subsequently entered into a transaction with Sony. Based on this chain of rights, Sony filed a suit before the Bombay High Court in 2022.
The Counsel for IMMPL contended that the suit filed before the Bombay High Court was entirely duplicative of matters already before the Madras High Court, where appeals were pending and a stay had been granted on the portion of the 2019 verdict recognising Echo’s rights.
It further argued that Sony’s Bombay suit was at a preliminary stage, while the Madras proceedings were significantly advanced. IMMPL sought transfer on the grounds that it had no business presence in Mumbai and operated solely from Chennai. Ilaiyaraaja’s company claimed that permitting simultaneous proceedings before two High Courts risked conflicting judgments and a multiplicity of litigation.