Saregama seeks contempt of court action against Ilaiyaraaja for violating Delhi HC copyright order

Saregama India on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court seeking contempt of court action against composer Ilaiyaraaja, alleging that he continued to exploit and assert ownership over songs covered by an injunction restraining him from doing so..Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani issued notice and sought response to the plea. .The company has sought Ilaiyaraaja's detention in civil prison and attachment of his movable and immovable properties for the alleged violation. It has also asked the Court to appoint an official receiver to sell the attached properties and hand over the proceeds to Saregama..The application has been filed in Saregama's pending copyright suit against Ilaiyaraaja. On February 13, the Delhi High Court had passed an interim order restraining the composer and persons acting on his behalf from exploiting, using or issuing licences for certain copyrighted works claimed by Saregama. He was also restrained from making ownership claims concerning those works to third parties.Ilaiyaraaja subsequently sought vacation of the interim injunction. However, that application was dismissed by the Court on July 1.Saregama has now alleged that Ilaiyaraaja openly violated the injunction by continuing to exploit the covered works on platforms including Spotify and YouTube and by claiming ownership over them before third parties.One of the allegations concerns the song Podhuvaga Emmanasu Thangam from the Tamil film Murattukkaalai..According to Saregama, Ilaiyaraaja issued a legal notice to Beyond Pictures on May 8 asserting ownership over the song and asking the company to obtain a licence or consent from him for its exploitation. Saregama contended that this was contrary to the February injunction.The company further alleged that Ilaiyaraaja instituted a suit against Beyond Pictures before the Madras High Court on June 23, asserting exclusive ownership over the same song..Saregama claimed that he did not disclose to the Madras High Court the pending proceedings in Delhi or the subsisting injunction. It alleged that this led to an ex parte interim injunction being passed against Beyond Pictures on July 6. That injunction was subsequently vacated after the Delhi proceedings were brought to the Madras High Court's notice, Saregama's application stated.Saregama has also placed screenshots and links before the Delhi High Court to allege that songs covered by its copyright claim continued to be available through Ilaiyaraaja-related listings on Spotify and YouTube. The company has termed the conduct "deliberate, intentional and wilful" disobedience of the Court's orders and sought immediate compliance with the February 13 injunction, which it said was confirmed on July 1..Ilaiyaraaja opposed the plea contending that it was misconceived and his rights are protected. .Saregama was represented by Senior Advocate Akhil Sibal with Advocates Ankur Sangal, Ankit Arvind and Shaurya Pandey from Aerion Legal..Ilaiyaraaja was represented by Senior Advocate Swathi Sukumar with Advocate Naveen Nagarjuna.