Today, On 15th October, The Supreme Court sought a reply from Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd on Sony Entertainment’s plea to transfer a fresh copyright dispute from the Madras High Court to the Bombay High Court, following dismissal of a similar earlier case.
The Supreme Court requested a response from Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMA) regarding a petition from Sony Entertainment, which seeks to transfer a new copyright dispute initiated by the music composer’s firm in the Madras High Court to the Bombay High Court.
A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran acknowledged the arguments made by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sony Entertainment.
He noted that IMMA has filed a new lawsuit in the Madras High Court following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a similar case.
Earlier, On July 28, the Chief Justice’s bench had rejected a request from the renowned music composer Ilaiyaraaja to move a copyright case involving over 500 of his musical works from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.
Singhvi stated,
“He is a music composer and I purchased the rights of his music. Now a fresh lawsuit has been filed in the Madras High Court.”
He contended that the ongoing dispute concerns rights that the company legitimately acquired and that Ilaiyaraaja’s firm is attempting to relitigate issues already resolved in Bombay.
Highlighting that the prior transfer plea by IMMA had already been dismissed by the Supreme Court, he emphasized,
“My suit is regarding my purchase with respect to his rights,”
The Chief Justice directed,
“Issue notice… returnable in six weeks,”
Singhvi mentioned that the “cause of action is different” in each case and that the new suit filed in Madras pertains to “different films” than those involved in the Bombay proceedings. When Singhvi asked the Supreme Court for a stay, citing the ex-parte nature of the Madras proceedings, the Chief Justice replied, “Make your prayer to the court and you are already represented there.”
Previously, the bench did not agree to the musician’s request for the case to be moved to the Madras High Court.
The counsel for Sony Music Entertainment informed the bench that the case brought by the firm was filed in the Bombay High Court when there was no pending case in the Madras High Court.
The earlier legal battle began with a lawsuit filed by Sony Music Entertainment India in 2022 in the Bombay High Court, where Sony sought an injunction to prevent Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL) from using 536 musical works.
The company asserts that it obtained rights to these works through Oriental Records and Echo Recording, an entity that has long been involved in litigation with Ilaiyaraaja. Notably, Ilaiyaraaja is one of India’s most prolific composers, credited with over 7,500 songs across 1,500 films.