The Supreme Court on Monday has taken a decision in the case pertaining to Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd on a plea of Sony Entertainment seeking to transfer to the Bombay High Court a copyright dispute instituted by the music composer’s firm in the Madras High Court. As per the latest update from Live Law, the SC allowed a transfer petition filed by Sony Entertainment seeking to transfer a copyright suit in the Madras High Court to the Bombay High Court. (Also read: Ilaiyaraaja cannot claim sole ownership of work as ‘there are no songs without lyrics’: Madras High Court)
What the SC said
The report states that Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi (for Sony) submitted before a bench comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Vinod K Chandran that, since the prior suit was filed in the Bombay High Court, the Court may consider granting the relief. Whereas Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal (for the composer) objected to the jurisdiction of the Bombay High Court.
Justice Kumar suggested that the suit be transferred to Bombay as the respondents had failed to seek any relief against the institution of the suit at the Bombay High Court. Sony approached the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the suit instituted before the Madras High Court to the Bombay High Court.
More details about the case
Earlier, the bench did not agree with the musician’s submissions that the case be transferred to the Madras High Court. The prior legal case began with a 2022 lawsuit filed by Sony Music Entertainment India before the Bombay High Court. Sony has sought an injunction to restrain Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd from using 536 musical works.
The company claims it acquired the rights to these works through Oriental Records and Echo Recording, the entity with which Ilaiyaraaja has long been embroiled in litigation. On July 28 last year, the bench had dismissed a plea of the music composer Ilaiyaraaja seeking to transfer a copyright dispute involving over 500 of his musical compositions from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.
The bench argued that the ongoing dispute concerned rights the company had legitimately purchased, and that Ilaiyaraaja’s firm was attempting to relitigate issues already settled in Bombay.
Ilaiyaraaja has composed over 7000 songs for over 1000 films and performed over 20,000 concerts across the globe in a career spanning over five decades.
