New Delhi, 24 Sept

In a relief to music director AR Rahman and the makers of film 'Ponniyin Selvan 2', the Delhi High Court on Wednesday set aside an order directing them to deposit Rs 2 crore in a copyright lawsuit over classical rendition of 'Shiv Stuti', saying there was no prima facie evidence of the Junior Dagar Brothers being the authors of the composition.

A bench of Justices C Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla said the high court single judge "erred" on principle in treating evidence of the Junior Dagar Brothers having rendered, and performed, the Shiva Stuti suit composition as prima facie evidence of their having composed it.

"At a plain glance, it is apparent that the material, on which the Single Judge has placed reliance, though considerable, only reflects the Junior Dagar Brothers as having rendered, or performed, the suit composition Shiva Stuti at various points of time. The Junior Dagar Brothers have never been named, shown or identified, in any jacket, literature or Inlay Card, as the composers of the suit composition," the order said.

The bench noted that the presumption of authorship, under Section 55(2) of the Copyright Act, was not available in the present case as a result.

"Material which indicates that an artiste rendered a musical work, howsoever voluminous, can never lead to a finding, even prima facie, that the artist is the composer of the musical work. Else, every singer would be entitled to claim herself, or himself, to be the composer of every song that she, or he, has rendered," it added.

Evidence merely indicated to the high court that Dagar Brothers rendered the suit composition Shiva Stuti. "They do not, in any manner of speaking, indicate that they composed the suit composition.”

In the absence of any prima facie case of authorship of copyright in the Shiva Stuti suit composition, the court opined, the respondent did not, prima facie, even have a sustainable cause of action to maintain the suit against the appellant.

Justice Prathiba M Singh on 25 April ruled that from a listener's point of view, the core of Rahman's song 'Veera Raja Veera' in the film was "not just inspired but is, in fact, identical" in notes, emotion and aural impact to the 'Shiva Stuti'.

It was in violation of the rights of the original composers of the musical tribute to Lord Shiva, the judge said.

The court directed insertion of a slide in the film on all OTT and online platforms to give due credit to Junior Dagar Brothers -- Late Ustad N. Faiyazuddin Dagar and Late Ustad Zahiruddin Dagar -- for the composition, and also awarded Rs 2 lakh as costs to the family member of the late artists.

Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, the son of Faiyazuddin Dagar and nephew of Zahiruddin Dagar, contended in the lawsuit that he held the copyright in all original compositions of Junior Dagar Brothers, including 'Shiv Stuti', which the defendants had unlawfully infringed.

Rahman's counsel argued that 'Shiv Stuti' was based on the traditional dhrupad genre which was in the public domain, and since the manner of singing and the composition itself was not original, it was not capable of copyright protection.