Delhi High Court - Orders
Saga Music Private Limited vs Karma Entertainment Through Its ... on 22 March, 2022
Author: Jyoti Singh
Bench: Jyoti Singh
$~4
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 174/2022
SAGA MUSIC PRIVATE LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sagar Chandra, Ms. Sakshi Pande
and Ms. Urvashi Garg, Advocates.
versus
KARMA ENTERTAINMENT THROUGH ITS
PROPRIETOR MR. UMESH KUMAR YADAV ..... Defendant
Through: None.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MS. JUSTICE JYOTI SINGH
ORDER
% 22.03.2022 I.A. 4431/2022 (For seeking leave to file documents in compact disc)
1. By way of the present application, Plaintiff seeks leave to file a Compact Disc (CD) comprising of audio clips of the Sound Recordings/Songs "Black Suit" and "Suit Lahore Da".
2. For the reasons stated in the application, the same is allowed.
3. Plaintiff is permitted to file the aforementioned CD within a period of two weeks from today.
I.A. 4430/2022 (For Additional documents)
4. Present application has been preferred on behalf of the Plaintiff seeking leave to file additional documents under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
5. Plaintiff, if it wishes to file additional documents at a later stage, shall do so strictly as per the provisions of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015.
CS(COMM) 174/2022 page 1 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR Signing Date:23.03.2022 10:56:01
6. Application stands disposed of.
CS(COMM) 174/2022
7. Let plaint be registered as a suit.
8. Upon filing of process fee, issue summons to the Defendant, through all permissible modes, returnable on 18.05.2022. Summons shall state that written statement shall be filed by the Defendant within 30 days from the receipt of summons. Along with the written statement, Defendant shall also file an affidavit of admission/denial of the documents of the Plaintiff.
9. Replication be filed by the Plaintiff within 15 days of the receipt of the written statement. Along with the replication, an affidavit of admission/denial of documents filed by the Defendant shall be filed by the Plaintiff. If any of the parties wish to seek inspection of any documents, the same shall be sought and given within the timelines.
10. List before the Joint Registrar for completion of pleadings on 18.05.2022.
I.A. 4429/2022 (Under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 r/w Section 151 of CPC)
11. Present application has been preferred by the Plaintiff under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, for grant of ex-parte ad interim injunction.
12. Issue notice to the Defendant, through all permissible modes, returnable before Court on 19.07.2022.
13. Present suit has been filed seeking permanent injunction restraining the Defendant from infringing the Plaintiff's copyright in respect of Sound Recordings/Songs titled "Black Suit" and "Suit Lahore Da" assigned to the Plaintiff by the Defendant vide two separate but nearly identical Content CS(COMM) 174/2022 page 2 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR Signing Date:23.03.2022 10:56:01 Assignment Agreements, both dated 09.08.2019.
14. As per the case set out by the Plaintiff in the plaint, Plaintiff was founded in the year 1999 as a media, entertainment and technology services Company and is engaged in the business of production, procurement and exploitation of films, audio and audio-visual content, sourcing, acquiring, aggregating, developing and distributing audio and video content, creating and managing music labels on digital platforms and has a well-established infrastructure in the business.
15. Plaintiff is a premier indie music label known as 'SAGA MUSIC'. Plaintiff caters to a massive audience of regional music lovers especially the Punjabi music diaspora, which has a huge following in India as well as globally. Over the years, Plaintiff has become highly reputable, widely known and respectable in the field of production etc., as aforementioned.
16. Plaintiff acquires copyright in Sound Recording/Songs etc. by entering into copyright assignment agreements and thereby enjoys, inter alia, the following rights, as owner of the copyright :-
a. The exclusive right to license a part or all of the copyright in the Sound Recordings or Underlying Works over any mode or medium; b. The exclusive right to monetize or seek royalties in respect of exploitation of the Sound Recordings or Underlying Works; c. The exclusive right to sue for infringement of any of these rights.
17. It is the case of the Plaintiff that around June, 2019, Defendant had approached the Plaintiff, representing to be the sole and exclusive copyright holder and owner of all proprietary interest in Music Tracks/Songs/Sound Recordings titled "Black Suit" and "Suit Lahore Da". Based on the CS(COMM) 174/2022 page 3 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR Signing Date:23.03.2022 10:56:01 credentials and representations made by the Defendant, Plaintiff and Defendant entered into two separate, but nearly identical Content Assignment Agreements, both dated 09.08.2019. By virtue of the said Agreements, Plaintiff as the assignee is the exclusive owner of the copyright in the said work. The timelines for delivery of material are categorically mentioned in the agreements as being the essence of the contract and it is further stipulated that any breach thereof would amount to breach of contract by the assignor.
18. It is averred by the Plaintiff that in respect of 'Black Suit' an amount of Rs. 10,97,600/- has been paid by the Plaintiff towards advance royalty. A sum of Rs. 14,78,400/- has been paid to the Defendant, as advance royalty in respect of 'Suit Lahore Da'.
19. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Plaintiff submits that pursuant to the aforesaid Content Assignment Agreements, Defendant has irrevocably transferred and exclusively assigned to the Plaintiff, all rights, title and interest including the copyright in the aforementioned songs. Plaintiff is now the owner of copyright in the songs by virtue of Sections 14, 18 and 19 of Copyright Act, 1957. It is the contention of the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Plaintiff that despite the assignments, Defendant has failed to, till date, deliver the content material to the Plaintiff in accordance with Clause 4 (h) of the Content Assignment Agreements. The contents as brought out in the plaint are as follows:
a) Audio Masters in Wave format, 48KHZ & 44KHZ of the Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da';
b. Video Masters in PRO RES 422 HQ MOV format [Clean + Credits] of the Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da' CS(COMM) 174/2022 page 4 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR Signing Date:23.03.2022 10:56:01 c. On Location Photo shoot & Making & footage of video of the Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da';
d. Audio Minus Track, 16 Tracks of the Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da'; and e. Censor certificates of songs, song promos, Teasers etc. of the Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da'.
20. It is further submitted that vide e-mail dated 04.02.2020, Plaintiff reminded the Defendant about the pending delivery of the content material and subsequently sent reminders, but to no avail. The said acts of the Defendant are in bad faith and have caused loss and harm to the Plaintiff on account of the fact that Plaintiff has been unable to release the songs across its platforms.
21. Learned counsel submits that the Plaintiff has, based on credible market sources, learnt that Defendant has been approaching several other music labels, including the Plaintiff's rivals and competitors in the industry, with copies of the Audio Clips of the Plaintiff's songs 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da', offering the same for sale and/or license. Therefore, there is an imminent threat of unauthorized and illegal copies of the copyrighted songs being made available to third parties as also over various Internet-based links and websites by the Defendant.
22. Having heard the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the Plaintiff and having perused the documents on record, this Court is of the view that Plaintiff has established a prima facie case in its favour for grant of ex-parte ad-interim injunction. Balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and irreparable loss shall be caused to the Plaintiff in case an ex- parte ad-interim injunction is not granted.
CS(COMM) 174/2022 page 5 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:KAMAL KUMAR Signing Date:23.03.2022 10:56:01
23. Accordingly, till the next date of hearing, Defendant, its partners or proprietors, employees, officers, servants, agents, assignees, representatives, as the case may be and all other persons acting for and on behalf of the Defendant are:-
(i) restrained from making a copy or substantially similar copy of the Plaintiff's copyrighted Sound Recordings/Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da';
(ii) restrained from selling, licensing or offering for sale or licensing to third parties, any copy or substantially similar copy of the Plaintiff's copyrighted Sound Recordings/Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da'; and
(iii) restrained from communicating Plaintiff's copyrighted Sound Recordings / Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da' to the public in any manner whatsoever including by way of but not limited to exhibiting / disseminating / communicating to the public via the internet, telecasting / broadcasting / distributing / reproducing or otherwise making available to the public via the internet or any other means or doing any other act resulting in copyright infringement of the Plaintiff's copyrighted Sound Recordings/Songs titled 'Black Suit' and 'Suit Lahore Da';
24. Provisions of Order 39 Rule 3 CPC shall be complied with by the Plaintiff, within a period of three days from today.
JYOTI SINGH, J
MARCH 22, 2022/st
CS(COMM) 174/2022 page 6 of 6
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:KAMAL KUMAR
Signing Date:23.03.2022
10:56:01