Crime Today News
The Delhi High Court has held that original compositions based on Hindustani classical music traditions could be protected under copyright law, provided they exhibited sufficient creativity and originality.
The interim order was passed by the single-judge Bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh in a copyright infringement suit filed by Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar (plaintiff) against legendary composer AR Rahman (defendant).
Dagar claimed that Rahman’s song “Veera Raja Veera”, featured in Ponniyin Selvan 2, was derived from “Shiva Stuti”, a Dhrupad composition credited to the Junior Dagar Brothers.
The claim was refuted by the film’s producers on the grounds that Shiva Stuti was a traditional composition, and no exclusive rights could subsist over classical works adhering to public domain structures like Raga Adana.
The High Court held that while ragas, taals, and stylistic traditions formed part of the public domain and were free for all to use, however, when a composer arranged, selected, or expressed musical notes within these frameworks in an original and creative manner, that specific composition qualified as a musical work eligible for copyright protection under Section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
The single-judge Bench observed that the composition in Hindustani classical music would have to follow the structure and rules of a Raga to identify as a composition within the said Raga. Various possibilities and choices were available to a composer within the structure of a Raga. The songs derived from original classical music based compositions could infringe copyright, it added.
Justice Singh said the legislature has evolved the law through amendments to extend protection to certain creative works, including works based on Hindustani classical music.
The High Court noted the plaintiff’s argument that though there was no copyright in the Raga, the musical compositions were themselves original in nature. Every composer could set the composition to a particular Raga, which would then become the original composition of that composer. Working within traditional frameworks could create original, copyrightable works.
Rejecting Rahman’s defence that any similarities were merely due to both works following the discipline of the same raga, the High Court ruled that the core of the impugned song Veera Raja Veera was not just inspired, in fact, it was 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.
Justice Singh noted that if the impugned song was not based on Raga Adana, the defendants were not bound by the principles or discipline of the said Raga.
She stressed upon the “lay listener test” rather than technical notation analysis, noting that in Indian classical music tradition, it was the sound of the music or the aural effect of the music that would be the test.
The single-judge Bench took into consideration the fact that Rahman had deliberate access to the original composition. Two singers of the song were disciples of the plaintiff and Rahman had specifically sought compositions from the Dagarvani tradition.
The selection of a composition based on the Dagarvani tradition, especially the ‘Shiva Stuti’, was a conscious and deliberate choice made by the Defendant No.1, who was himself an acclaimed composer of global renown, it added.
The High Court directed that all OTT and online platforms must replace the existing credit slide reading “Composition based on a Dagarvani Tradition Dhrupad” with a new acknowledgment stating “Composition based on Shiva Stuti by Late Ustad N Faiyazuddin Dagar and Late Ustad Zahiruddin Dagar.”
It further ordered the defendants to deposit Rs two crore in a fixed deposit pending trial outcome and pay Rs two lakh in costs to Dagar within four weeks.
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