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2013 Supreme(Cal) 116

I.P.MUKERJI
Saregama India Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures – Respondent


Advocates Appeared:
Mr. Pratap Chatterjee, S. N. Mookerjee, Ranjan Bachawat, Debnath Ghosh, Goutam Banerjee, Sayan Roychoudhury and Shounak Mitra ...for the Petitioner
Mr. J. K. Mitra, Abhrajit Mitra and Jishnu Choudhury ...for Respondent No.1
Mr. T. K. Bose and Suvasish Sengupta ...for the Respondent No.2

Judgement Key Points

What is the standard for granting injunctions in copyright cases involving alleged de minimis infringement? What is the scope of protection for lyrics versus music in a composite copyright, and how does de minimis affect infringement claims? What are the essential factors required to establish copyright infringement of a song in a film when the copied segment is minimal?

What is the standard for granting injunctions in copyright cases involving alleged de minimis infringement?

What is the scope of protection for lyrics versus music in a composite copyright, and how does de minimis affect infringement claims?

What are the essential factors required to establish copyright infringement of a song in a film when the copied segment is minimal?


JUDGMENT

This application at the "New Motion" stage was heard by me for a considerable length of time. In my opinion, all the relevant papers are before the Court. Hence, there is no point in keeping this application pending, after passing or refusing an interim order and inviting affidavits to be filed.

2. In the facts and circumstances of the present case, the prayer for an order of injunction has to be refused. My reasons are as follows :

3. I agree with most of the legal arguments of Mr. Pratap Chatterjee, Senior Advocate and Mr. S. N. Mookerjee, Senior Advocate for the plaintiff.

4. The agreements of 24th April, 1967 and 3rd August, 2009 for assignment of copyright clearly show that amongst other things the sound recorded in the soundtrack and in the magnetic tapes, of the film "Aradhana" were assigned to the plaintiff. Thus the lyrics of the song in the film "Mere Sapno Ki Rani" were also part of the assignment.

5. Considering the decisions of the Supreme Court in Indian Performing Right Society Limited v. Eastern India Motion Picture Association & Others reported in AIR 1977 SC 1443 (paragraph 18 and a Division Bench of the Court in Saregama India Limited v. Puneet Prakash Mehra















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