2006 Supreme(Del) 710

High Court Of Delhi
NEHA BHASIN - Appellant
Versus
ANAND RAJ ANAND - Respondent
Decided On : 04/20/2006

Headnote:

The plaintiff, a singer, claimed that her voice was used by the defendants for the three versions of the song "ek look ek look" in the forthcoming hindi feature film "aryan - unbreakable" produced by the defendant no. 2 (Poonam Khubani). The plaintiff alleged that defendant no. 2, in connivance with the music director (defendant no. 1-Anand Raaj anand), has shown herself to be the singer alongwith the defendant no. 2. The plaintiff has been shown as a backup vocalist in all the three versions of "ek look ek look". The plaintiff alleged that her voice has been "stolen" and falsely attributed and held out to be that of defendant no. 2 (Poonam Khubani). The defendants contended that the sound engineer "inadvertently overlapped the audition recordings" of the plaintiff "with those of Ms Khubani s recording" and that the "said inadvertence of the sound engineer was carried to the printer, who, on the said basis, printed the name of" the plaintiff "in the inlay card". However, in the written statement, this "inadvertence" story has been debunked. The defendants now take the position that Poonam Khubani s (defendant no. 2 s) voice was consciously "layered" with the voice of the plaintiff (Neha bhasin) in such a way that a greater number of layers of the defendant No. 2 were mixed with a fewer number of layers of the plaintiff s voice. According to the defendants, this resulted in projecting the defendant No. 2 s voice as the lead singer, though, retaining some elements of the Plaintiff s voice. And, that, therefore, the defendant No. 2 was rightly described as the main "lead female vocalist in the Original CD and the plaintiff was correctly described as a back- up vocalist. Consequently, the defendants now take the position that the credits printed on the inlay card of the Original CD are correct. The "inadvertence" story, which was set up contemporaneously to the issuance of the said notice, has been debunked. This is so because an act done inadvertently cannot at the same time be said to be done purposely and consciously.

Fact of the Case:

The plaintiff, a singer, claimed that her voice was used by the defendants for the three versions of the song "ek look ek look" in the forthcoming hindi feature film "aryan - unbreakable" produced by the defendant no. 2 (Poonam Khubani). The plaintiff alleged that defendant no. 2, in connivance with the music director (defendant no. 1-Anand Raaj anand), has shown herself to be the singer alongwith the defendant no. 2. The plaintiff has been shown as a backup vocalist in all the three versions of "ek look ek look". The plaintiff alleged that her voice has been "stolen" and falsely attributed and held out to be that of defendant no. 2 (Poonam Khubani). The defendants contended that the sound engineer "inadvertently overlapped the audition recordings" of the plaintiff "with those of Ms Khubani s recording" and that the "said inadvertence of the sound engineer was carried to the printer, who, on the said basis, printed the name of" the plaintiff "in the inlay card". However, in the written statement, this "inadvertence" story has been debunked. The defendants now take the position that Poonam Khubani s (defendant no. 2 s) voice was consciously "layered" with the voice of the plaintiff (Neha bhasin) in such a way that a greater number of layers of the defendant No. 2 were mixed with a fewer number of layers of the plaintiff s voice. According to the defendants, this resulted in projecting the defendant No. 2 s voice as the lead singer, though, retaining some elements of the Plaintiff s voice. And, that, therefore, the defendant No. 2 was rightly described as the main "lead female vocalist in the Original CD and the plaintiff was correctly described as a back- up vocalist. Consequently, the defendants now take the position that the credits printed on the inlay card of the Original CD are correct. The "inadvertence" story, which was set up contemporaneously to the issuance of the said notice, has been debunked. This is so because an act done inadvertently cannot at the same time be said to be done purposely and consciously.

Finding of the Court:

The court found that the plaintiff was the lead-main female vocalist and not the defendant no. 2. It would be wrong to describe the plaintiff as a back-up vocalist. The defendant No. 2's voice is not discernible in the Original CD at all. And, the case set up by the defendants that the vocals of the defendant no. 2 were layered with the vocals of the plaintiff has been found to be without any tangible basis.

Issues: Whether the plaintiff was the lead-main female vocalist or not.

Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the plaintiff was the lead-main female vocalist and not the defendant no. 2. It would be wrong to describe the plaintiff as a back-up vocalist. The defendant No. 2's voice is not discernible in the Original CD at all. And, the case set up by the defendants that the vocals of the defendant no. 2 were layered with the vocals of the plaintiff has been found to be without any tangible basis.

Final Decision: The court granted an interim injunction restraining the defendants from using, selling, distributing, exhibiting, or advertising the motion picture, cassettes, CDs, or promos of the film "aryan - Unbreakable" containing the song "ek Look Ek Look" in any of the three versions as contained in the Original CD without displaying the name of the plaintiff as the lead female singer.