The Delhi High Court on Friday granted interim relief to Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, upholding his copyright in the composition ‘Shiva Stuti’ against its unauthorized use by A.R. Rahman and others in the film Ponniyin Selvan – 2, and issued an interim injunction.
The Court was hearing a suit filed by Ustad Dagar seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction to recognize his copyright over the musical composition ‘Shiva Stuti’ and to restrain the Defendants from using it in the song “Veera Raja Veera” without authorization or acknowledgment of the original authors' moral rights.
The bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh observed, “In this case, the core of the impugned song Veera Raja Veera is not just inspired but is in fact identical in Swaras (notes), Bhava (Emotion) and Aural impact (impact on the ear) of the suit composition Shiva Stuti, from the point of view of a lay listener. Hence the Defendant’s composition infringes the Plaintiff’s rights in Shiva Stuti.”
“A perusal of the chronology of events that led to the filing of the present suit is relevant to the grant of relief. The Defendant No.1 who has earned global acclaim, initially did not give any recognition to the Plaintiff’s work. When the Plaintiff contacted the Defendant No.1, the acknowledgement was given – albeit reluctantly. Further correspondence ensued but there was no resolution. The Defendant Nos. 6 and 7 who sang the impugned song are disciples of the Plaintiffs. These facts demonstrate the intricate link to the Shiva Stuti and Veera Raja Veera musical compositions. The balance of convenience is thus in favour of the Plaintiff as, once the movie and song lose their audience by the time trial is concluded, the Plaintiff would have lost any possibility of effective acknowledgment. Irreparable injury thus would be caused to the creative rights and moral rights of the original composers who are no longer alive.” the bench added.
The Court found that the Plaintiff had prima facie proven copyright infringement, with the balance of convenience in his favor, and ruled that recognizing the original authors would not cause irreparable harm to the Defendants.
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