Copyright Case: Delhi HC Directs Goldmines Telefilms To Not Upload Songs From 14 Bollywood Movies Till Next Hearing On A Plea By T-Series
|The Delhi High Court on a plea filed by Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited, doing business in the name of ‘T-Series’ has directed the Goldmines Telefilms Private Limited to not upload songs from fourteen Bollywood movies till the next date of hearing.
The aforesaid matter was related to the alleged infringement of copyright with regard to the musical works in form of sound recordings and audiovisual songs.
A Single Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh ordered, “Considering the nature of the disputes raised, in the meantime, the Defendant shall not upload any further additional audio or audio-visual works from the suit films, apart from those which have already been uploaded on YouTube, till the next date of hearing. The current status quo shall be maintained till the injunction application is decided by the Court.”
A total of 14 films were the subject matter of the said suit and both parties contended that the other had no right over the songs.
Senior Advocate Amit Sibal appeared on behalf of the plaintiff while Senior Advocate Sandeep Sethi with Advocate Aurup Dasgupta appeared on behalf of the defendant.
In this case, a suit was filed by the plaintiff (T-Series) against the defendant (Goldmines Telefilms) seeking a permanent injunction restraining infringement of copyright, tortious interference, damages, etc. qua plaintiff’s sound recordings, cinematograph films (to the extent they cover audiovisual songs), inter alia musical works embodied in the sound recordings and audiovisual songs. The suit was filed in respect of exploitation of the audio-visual songs from the movies (suit films): i) Diljale ii) Main Aisa Hi Hoon iii) Vaastav iv) Bees Saal Baad v) Ek Chaddar Maili Si vi) Guru vii) Hisaab Khoon Ka viii) Jungbaaz ix) Pati Patni Aur Tawaif x) Pyaar Ka Mandir xi) Tahakla xii) Muddat xiii) Indaniyat ke dushman and xiv) Oonche Log.
The plaintiff claimed to be one of India’s leading music production companies, owning copyrights to a vast collection of songs and its grievance was that the defendant had uploaded YouTube videos of audio-visual songs from the suit films. The plaintiff contended that it had acquired, and owned prior assignment deeds in respect of audio-visual works, including the literary, artistic, dramatic and musical works, as also the cinematograph films for the songs, and that the defendant did not have rights to authorise the uploading of these songs from the suit films on YouTube.
The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case noted, “The Plaintiff claims that it noticed various instances of infringement in the past, and complaints were lodged on YouTube, pursuant to which some videos were blocked. However, several videos continue to remain accessible on YouTube. It is the submission of Mr. Amit Sibal, ld. Senior Counsel for the Plaintiff that the Plaintiff issued a legal notice dated 20th June 2023 to the Defendant, asking the Defendant to cease from infringing the Plaintiff’s copyright works in the suit films. The Defendant refused to comply with the Plaintiff’s requisitions. Hence the present suit.”
The two questions that were required to be decided by the Court were:
(a) Whether the Plaintiff holds exclusive rights in the audio-visual songs of the suit films, and if so, to what extent?
(b) Whether the Defendant, has the right to exploit the audio-visual songs which are a part of cinematograph films, independently, on YouTube and other platforms?
“Clearly, these are issues that would require the Court to analyse each of the assignment deeds qua each of the suit films for both sides, and then pass appropriate orders. … Accordingly, issue notice. The assignment deeds and the reply on behalf of the Defendant in response to the injunction application be filed within two weeks”, said the Court.
Accordingly, the High Court listed the case on September 11, 2023.
Cause Title- Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited v. Goldmines Telefilms Private Limited