Bombay High Court Declines To Temporarily Injunct Use Of 'Saat Samundar Paar' In Upcoming Dharma Film

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday declined to grant ad‑interim relief to Trimurti Films Pvt. Ltd. in a copyright infringement suit concerning the use of the song “Saat Samundar Paar” in the upcoming Hindi film 'Tu Meri Main Tera Main Tera Tu Meri'. The court has refused to injunct the use of the song in the upcoming Dharma Products movie slated for a Christmas Release.A single judge Bench of Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh passed the order while hearing an ad‑interim application by Trimurti Films, which alleged that the song had been remixed and incorporated into the film without its consent.The court observed, “In my view, prima facie the Plaintiffs have failed to make out a case that the assignment agreement granted limited assignment in favor of Defendant No. 3 (Saregama) for exploiting the sound recording for making of records and only for that purpose, the underlying musical score could be exploited.”Trimurti Films told the Court that it is the producer and first owner of the 1992 film Vishwatma and its sound recordings, including “Saat Samundar Paar,” as well as the underlying musical and literary works. It relied on a 1990 agreement with the predecessor of Saregama India Ltd., asserting that only limited mechanical and audio rights had been granted and that there was no assignment of rights to synchronise, adapt, remix, modify or incorporate the song into any cinematograph film. It maintained that all these rights still rested with it. Trimurti Films also stated that it first learnt in early December 2025 that the song was being remixed and used in connection with the forthcoming film and complained that no permission, licence or consent had been sought from it and that no royalties or other payment had been made for this use. Opposing the plea, Dharma Productions and Saregama submitted that the 1990 agreement constituted an absolute assignment of rights in the song. Saregama also pointed out that it had, over the years, licensed the disputed song for use and adaptation in various films and advertisements without any objection. It was also argued that there was a delay on part of Trimurti Films, asserting that a teaser featuring the disputed tune was released in December 2024. After examining the agreement and the material on record, the Court held that Clause 3(A)(i) of the 1990 agreement was widely worded and did not support Trimurti Films' argument that only limited rights were assigned. “Prima facie Clause 3A(i) by using the expression “all other rights, title and interest in and to literary, dramatic and musical work” in the latter part assigned the entire bouquet of rights comprised in the copyright including adaptation of the musical work,” the court observed. It further noted that for over three decades, Trimurti Films had not asserted any rights in the underlying musical work while Saregama had openly licensed the song for use in films such as 'Kick' and 'Jabariya Jodi' and a Cadbury advertisement. The court observed that these uses were not objected to at the relevant time. On the issue of delay, the court noted that the plaintiff did not dispute that a teaser had been released in December 2024. It held that the plea that the teaser went unnoticed could not be accepted, especially since Trimurti operates within the same industry.The Court also considered the balance of convenience and observed that restraining the use of the song at this stage would have serious consequences for the release of a cinematograph film involving substantial investment. It held that the equities did not favour grant of ad-interim relief. Consequently, the court declined to grant ad‑interim relief at this stage The matter is to be listed again for further hearing on January 9. Case Title: Trimurti Films Pvt. Ltd. v. Dharma Production Pvt. Ltd. and Others Case Number: IA (L) NO. 41013/2025 in Commercial IP Suit No. 717/2025 For Plaintiff: Senior Advocate Ravi Kadam with Advocates Hiren Kamod, Mohin V., Aarti Aggarwal, Karan Khiani, Rohan Lopes instructed by Rashmi SinghFor Defendants: Senior Advocate Birendra Saraf with Advocates Parag Khandhar, Chandrima Mitra, Anaheeta Verma, Pratyusha Dhedda instructed by DSK Legal for Dharma Production; Senior Advocate Virendra Tulzapurkar with Advocates Gaurav Mehta, S. Yadav, S. Shende, S. Singh instructed by Tejal Karania for Saregama India Ltd. Click Here To Read/Download Order

Bombay High Court Declines To Temporarily Injunct Use Of 'Saat Samundar Paar' In Upcoming Dharma Film

Ayushi Shukla

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