The Delhi High Court has ordered the makers of Mask to either delete the song ‘Naguva Nayana’ or deposit Rs 30 lakh before any OTT or satellite release. The Court held that Saregama owns full copyright over the song and Ilaiyaraja’s licence is invalid.
The Delhi High Court has ordered the producers of the Tamil movie Mask to either remove the famous Kannada song Naguva Nayana from the film or deposit Rs 30 lakh in the Court as interim licence fees before the movie is released on OTT or satellite platforms.
The order was passed in the case Saregama Vs Black Madras Films after the Court found that Saregama India Ltd legally owns the copyright to the song.
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Justice Tejas Karia gave this direction on December 9. The judge noted that Saregama owns the song’s copyright, including the music, lyrics and sound recording.
The case was filed by Saregama, which argued that the popular song from the film Pallavi Anu Pallavi had been used in Mask without permission. The company said it has a copyright assignment from 1980 executed by the original film’s producer.
The Court said:
“The plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte ad-interim injunction. However, as the Defendants’ Film has already been theatrically released world-wide and the plaintiff has made statement that the plaintiff has no objection for the release of the Defendants’ film on OTT platforms, Satellite television and other online platforms, so long as the license fees is deposited before this Court, the balance of convenience is not entirely in favour of the plaintiff.”
Senior Advocates Chander M Lall and J Sai Deepak, appearing for Saregama, explained that Venus Pictures, the producer of Pallavi Anu Pallavi, had signed a Copyright Assignment Agreement in 1980.
Through this agreement, all worldwide and perpetual rights to every song in the movie were transferred to Saregama.
This means Saregama owns the sound recording, musical composition and lyrics of Naguva Nayana, and has the exclusive right to use, reproduce, adapt or license the song in any format.
On November 26, Saregama found that Mask had used the song as background music. The company immediately sent a cease-and-desist notice asking the filmmakers to regularise the usage.
The producers replied that they had obtained a licence directly from composer Ilaiyaraja. Saregama then approached the Court, saying this licence was invalid because Ilaiyaraja, though the composer, does not own the copyright and therefore cannot issue any licence for the song.
It also pointed out that the lyrics were written by RN Jayagopal, so Ilaiyaraja could not have licensed the literary portion either.
Saregama informed the Court that a similar case earlier this year had been decided in its favour, and that the same defence had been rejected then. The Court agreed with Saregama’s arguments.
It held that the copyright had originally vested in the film’s producer and was legally assigned to Saregama, and therefore, the composer could not independently license the song.
The judge accepted that Mask has already been released in theatres worldwide, and also noted Saregama’s statement that it does not oppose the OTT release if licence fees are properly secured. The Court said this approach protects the interests of both sides.
The Court then directed the producers to either remove the song or deposit ₹30 lakh before releasing the movie online. If they fail to do this, the film cannot be released on OTT, satellite or digital platforms while using Naguva Nayana.
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The Court’s order states:
“Defendant Nos. 1 and 2 shall either remove the Subject Song, ‘Naguva Nayana’ from the defendants’ Firm, ‘Mask’ or deposit an amount of ₹30,00,000/- (Rupees Thirty Lakhs Only) with the Registrar General of this Court before the release of the defendants’ Film ‘Mask’ on OTT Platforms, Satellite Television or any other online platform, failing which….defendants are hereby restrained from releasing the defendants’ Film, ‘Mask’, on OTT Platforms, Satellite Television or any other online platform, while using the Subject Song, ‘Naguva Nayana’.”
The matter will now be heard again on March 23, 2026. The two Senior Advocates were supported by advocates Ankur Sangal, Shashwat Rakshit, Amrit Sharma and Annanya Mehan from Khaitan & Co.
Case Title:
Saregama Vs Black Madras Films
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