Delhi High Court Orders 'Mask' Movie Makers To Drop Disputed Kannada Song Or Deposit ₹30 Lakh Before OTT Release
Ayushi Shukla
10 Dec 2025 5:40 PM IST
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Black Madras Films, the producers of the Tamil feature film "Mask", to either remove the Kannada song “Naguva Nayana” from the movie or deposit Rs 30 lakh with the court before releasing it on OTT platforms, satellite television, or any other online medium.
The order was passed on December 9, 2025, by Justice Tejas Karia while hearing an interim injunction application in a copyright infringement suit filed by Saregama India Ltd. against Black Madras Films and others.
Saregama told the Court that it is the copyright owner of the Ilaiyaraja-composed song Naguva Nayana from the 1983 film "Pallavi Anu Pallavi". It said it had acquired the rights through a 1980 copyright assignment agreement with the film's producer, Venus Pictures, which gave it ownership over the sound recording as well as the underlying musical and literary works.
According to Saregama, it discovered on November 26, 2025, that the makers of Mask had used the song as background music without any licence. Although the film was released theatrically worldwide on November 21, 2025, its digital release was still pending.
Saregama then issued a cease-and-desist notice asking the producers to regularise the use.
The filmmakers argued that they had obtained a licence from music composer Ilaiyaraja to adapt and use the track. Saregama countered that although Ilaiyaraja composed the musical work, he was not the copyright owner and therefore could not grant any licence.
The court noted that under Section 17(b) of the Copyright Act, the producer of a cinematographic film is the first owner of copyright in its soundtrack when created for valuable consideration. Based on the assignment agreement on record, the court found that Saregama holds the rights to the song, and that Ilaiyaraja, as the composer, did not have the authority to license it to the makers of Mask.
“In view of Section 17(b) of the Act and the decision of the Supreme Court in Indian Performing Right Society (supra) and the Copyright Assignment Agreement, it is prima facie evident that the Plaintiff holds the Copyright in the Subject Song. Therefore, the Plaintiff is entitled to enforce its rights under the Act to protect exploitation by third parties,” the court said.
It held that Saregama had established a prima facie case for grant of an ex-parte ad-interim injunction. However, since the film had already been released theatrically and Saregama stated that it did not object to OTT release if the licence fee was deposited, the court observed that depositing the amount would adequately safeguard Saregama's interests during the pendency of the suit.
Accordingly, the court directed the makers of Mask to either remove the song from the film or deposit Rs 30 lakh with the Registrar General before releasing it on OTT platforms, satellite television, or any other online medium, until the next hearing. If they fail to comply, the court restrained them from releasing the film with the disputed song included on any digital platform.
The matter will next be listed on March 23, 2026.
Case Title: Saregama India Limited v. Black Madras Films & Ors.
Case Number: CS (COMM) 1310/2025
For Plaintiffs: Senior Advocates Chander M Lall and J. Sai Deepak with Advocates Ankur Sangal, Shashwat Rakshit, Amrit Sharma and Annanya Mehan.
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