Who Owns the Tune? : Legal Disputes in Bollywood Music

ABSTRACT

The Indian Entertainment Industry, popularly known as Bollywood, is incomplete without its music. Music and Songs have become an integral part of the Bollywood. There are instances where movies are remembered for their melodious songs. But besides all this glory, lies an area which is surrounded by legal disputes regarding the originality and ownership of these tunes. In the modern era where producers are faced by constant rush to produce new music and trends, originality of a song might be compromised. The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence in this creative field has also led to complex questions about authorship and ownerships of the work under Copyright Law. This article revolves around the Legal battles within the Bollywood Film Industry regarding copyright violations in musical ownership. The article also examines the key legal frameworks, types of ownership disputes and landmark cases pertaining to the Bollywood Music Industry.

KEYWORDS: Copyright, ownership, music industry, Bollywood music industry, AI in Music

THE LEGAL SIDE OF BOLLYWOOD MUSIC

The music and songs form an integral part of the Bollywood Film Industry. It is not just a part of creative expression, but also a significant source of revenue for the Bollywood film industry. By 2026, the Indian Music Market is expected to hit $445M-$940M.  he songs produced in Bollywood are widely viewed by audience through movies, streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube, live performances and concerts and social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The production of a song requires a diverse team of specialists, such as Music Directors, Lyricists and Sound Engineers. But with the growing popularity of the Bollywood music industry, the issues regarding the ownership and authorship of these songs are arising. The rapid advancement of digital technologies and the widespread use of online platforms have introduced further complexities, challenging the balance between protecting intellectual property rights and ensuring data privacy in this evolving landscape.

In India, the legal disputes concerning the issues of ownership of creative works is dealt by the Copyright Protection Act, 1957. India’s legal framework for intellectual property, predominantly governed by the Copyright Act of 1957, aims to protect original literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, though its application to AI-generated content remains ambiguous.  This statute provides the authors and owners of these creative works with exclusive rights such as right to reproduce and moral rights such as right to paternity of the work. In case of violation of these rights, the owner and authors are free to approach the court of law, particularly the commercial courts. 

This article explores the evolution of the intellectual property rights in the Bollywood music Industry, along with some recent judgements of the apex courts that have helped shape the present landscape of the protection of the creative efforts of authors in the music industry.

THE SHIFT IN MUSIC RIGHTS IN BOLLYWOOD

In the older days, the Bollywood Music Industry rarely used formal written agreements and contracts. Due to the lack of written agreements, the artists were mostly deprived of rights regarding their creative works. Personal relationship and values like trust and mutual respect played a greater role in these contracts. The power in these oral agreements was held by the producers and music labels . The ownership of the songs produced was not clear. 

In contrast, the present scenario, which has been complicated with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Streaming Services, the conflicts related to authorship, economic rights and originality within the Bollywood Music Industry have witnessed a growth. With the formalization of the industry, music labels began to introduce comprehensive contractual agreements, shifting from oral agreements to written documents that explicitly defined rights and obligations, thereby attempting to streamline ownership and royalty distribution. However, even these formal contracts often contained clauses that were heavily skewed in Favor of the producers and labels, sometimes at the expense of the original creators.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR MUSIC RIGHTS

With the emergence of such conflicts, it became important to have adequate laws and statutes in place to deal with matters of protection of the creative works and rights of the owners and authors. Following are some key legal frameworks which play a significant role in disputes related to music ownership in Bollywood film industry-:

 COPYRIGHT ACT, 1957

The Copyright Act, 1957 is the core statute which protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and cinematograph films and sound recordings from unauthorized uses. The act defines musical works, compositions, lyrics and sound recording for the purpose of protection. It provides the creators of these musical works with 60 years of exclusive rights (Section 14). These exclusive rights include right to reproduce, adapt, perform, broadcast, and synchronize.  The act was amended in 2012 to ensure that that lyricists and composers receive royalties for their creative work, safeguarding their economic rights.

 COPYRIGHT SOCIETIES

A copyright society, also known as a collective management organisation (CMO), is an entity that operates on behalf of creators and copyright owners to manage and administer their rights. It serves as a bridge between artists, composers, authors, and other creators, and those who wish to use their works for various purposes, such as reproduction, public performance, broadcasting, or online distribution. Indian Performing Rights Society (IPRS) and Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) are some instances of copyright societies. 

 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES

World Intellectual Property Organization plays a key role in facilitating international treaties and conventions for protection of intellectual property. The Berne Convention (18860 is especially known for providing automatic protection to authors without registration. It also laid down principle of National Treatment where a nation has to provide same protection to both domestic and foreign works. Other treaties which played a significant role in International music copyright are TRIPS Agreement, Rome Convention (1961), and Beijing Treaty (2012). 

WHEN MUSIC MET COURTS

Judiciary has played a key role in shaping the present scenario for copyright protection for music in Bollywood through its decisions. Some landmarks cases related to copyright protection of Bollywood music are as follows-:

  Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. V. Eastern India Motion Pictures Association (AIR 1997 SC 1443)

This case revolved around the conflicting rights of the composers and producers regarding the produced music. The Supreme Court held that the first rights and copyright of the music belonged to the producer, unless stated otherwise in the contract. The public performance rights were also assigned to the production along with limitations on royalties received by the composers. This judgement led to a long history of exploitation of composers by producers by depriving them from their rights of the creative work. This judgement was overturned by an amendment in Copyright Act, 1957 in 2012.

 Indian Performing Right Society v. Aditya Pandey & Ors. (2012 SCC OnLine Del 2645)

This case was presented before the Delhi High Court and addressed whether the radio stations have to pay twice- to the production and the songwriters- for playing a song. The copyright society, IPRS, argued that the radio stations should pay for two separate licenses. This argument was based on the assumption that a song is made up of two types of copyrights- the lyrics and tunes, which belong to the composers, and the final recorded version, which belongs to the music label. The Court ruled against the composers, holding that one license is enough for a radio station for playing a recording, and does not need a second one.

 Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. (SCIL) v. Hamar Television Network (2011 45 PTC 70 Del)

The Delhi High Court examined whether News Broadcasting Channels could play copyrighted music without a license for entertainment purposes. SCIL, popularly known as T-Series, sued Hamar TV, a news broadcasting channels, for playing its copyrighted film-clips from movies like Slumdog Billionaire and Ghajini, and songs without a license. Hamar TV defended its action by stating that these clips were used for news reporting and for a duration of only 10-40 seconds. The Court ruled in favour of SCIL and held that the use of film clips and songs by Hamar TV came under copyright infringement. 

CONCLUSION

Ownership and authorship of musical works has been great area for conflict in Bollywood Film Industry for a long time now. It has evolved over a century from informal, unwritten, oral agreements based on respect and love, while the present era revolves around formal written contracts with all the necessary obligations of the parties stated. The statutes play a key role in resolving these conflicts and compensating the injured party. Both the legislature and judiciary take effective steps to make sure that the law evolves according to the needs and circumstances of the society. Judiciary, through its decisions, extends copyright protection to different creative works, like music. The area of copyright in music is important because it rewards the creator for their creativity and innovation, by providing them with exclusive moral, economic, and ownership rights. This also promotes creativity amongst people. In conclusion, Lawrence Lessig has rightly said, “Creativity always builds on the past, and we stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.’