Supreme Court rejects Ilaiyaraaja’s request to shift Sony copyright dispute to Madras High Court

Ilaiyaraaja contested Echo's rights, claiming his own economic and moral rights under the Copyright Act.

In an attempt to transfer a significant copyright dispute from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court, renowned music composer Ilaiyaraaja filed a transfer petition, which the Supreme Court denied on Monday. Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL) and Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd are currently engaged in a legal dispute over the rights to 536 of his musical compositions.

The Bombay High Court's proceedings were permitted to proceed after a bench consisting of Justices Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria, as well as Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, dismissed the petition.

The conflict stems from a lawsuit filed by Sony Music in 2022 to stop IMMPL from using 536 musical compositions. Through a series of assignments, beginning with Echo Recording Company, then Oriental Records, and finally a contract with Sony, Sony asserts ownership of these works.

With more than 7,500 songs in 1,500 films, Ilaiyaraaja is considered one of India's most prolific composers. He has long challenged this ownership structure. Due to a 2014 lawsuit Ilaiyaraaja filed against Echo Recording, his company IMMPL contended that 310 of the 536 compositions in question are already the focus of ongoing litigation in the Madras High Court. Ilaiyaraaja then contested Echo's rights, claiming his own economic and moral rights under the Copyright Act. In 2019, the Madras High Court partially upheld his moral rights while acknowledging Echo's right to record sound.

After that decision, Oriental Records was given Echo's catalogue, and the two parties later made a deal that led to Sony's lawsuit in the Bombay High Court. Before the Supreme Court, IMMPL contended that this was a repetition of the Madras proceedings already in place and that holding hearings in two High Courts at the same time ran the risk of contradictory rulings and needless litigation.

The transfer plea also pointed out that IMMPL only conducts business out of Chennai and has no connections to Mumbai. It also mentioned that the Madras case was further along while the Bombay proceedings were still in the preliminary stage.

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The Supreme Court decided not to get involved in spite of these arguments. Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocate Utsav Trivedi, a partner at TAS Law, represented IMMPL.

This ruling could influence future interpretations of intellectual property and moral rights in Indian music as the copyright dispute over Ilaiyaraaja's legendary catalogue moves forward in two separate High Courts.