The Delhi High Court will listen to the Tamil version of a song from the 2011 Malayalam flick Urumi to decide a copyright infringement claim by a Canadian musician..Justice Vibhu Bakhru of the Delhi High Court yesterday heard a contempt petition in a copyright infringement case between Canadian musician and composer Loreena McKennitt and Indian composer Deepak Dev, who is best known for his work in Malayalam cinema..McKennitt had filed the suit against Dev in 2011, after the release of Urumi and its music, accusing him of using her melody in his song Aaro ne aaro which was part of the movie. She had claimed that Dev’s song has melodies from her songs The Mummers Dance and Caravanserai..The High Court had granted an ex-parte injunction in September 2011 restricting the proposed release of the song in any other language. The respondent had filed an undertaking on April 30, 2012 stating that they would duly comply with the said injunction. Subsequently, a contempt petition was filed by McKennitt contending that the respondents had gone ahead and released the song in Tamil and Telugu..Advocate Julien George from Sai Krishna & Associates, appearing for McKennitt, argued that the injunction order had not been complied with by the respondents Deepak Dev, August Cinemas India Pvt. Ltd and the distributors – Aditya Music and Sony Music. It was contended that the songs were released and were publicly available on the internet as well as on CDs in the market..The Tamil and Telugu versions of the song, argued George, were only different by way of the language of the lyrics. George relied on the opinion of an expert in Musicology to buttress her case. She contended that the melody of the new versions of the songs, on which Mckinnitt had claimed the copyright was still the same..The respondents on the other hand contended that the Telugu version of the song was released prior to the grant of injunction and therefore outside the scope of it and that the Tamil version is different in composition from the Canadian musician’s works. The respondents also submitted that the Malayalam version of the song, which is available on internet, would be removed..The Court said that the question of infringement can be decided only after the songs are played before the court..The matter will now be heard on September 29. The Court will listen to the original and the Tamil versions of the song on the said date and will decide on the issue of copyright infringement as well as on whether or not the respondent is bound to delete the Telugu version of the song..Image courtesy:.Urumi.Loreena McKennit
The Delhi High Court will listen to the Tamil version of a song from the 2011 Malayalam flick Urumi to decide a copyright infringement claim by a Canadian musician..Justice Vibhu Bakhru of the Delhi High Court yesterday heard a contempt petition in a copyright infringement case between Canadian musician and composer Loreena McKennitt and Indian composer Deepak Dev, who is best known for his work in Malayalam cinema..McKennitt had filed the suit against Dev in 2011, after the release of Urumi and its music, accusing him of using her melody in his song Aaro ne aaro which was part of the movie. She had claimed that Dev’s song has melodies from her songs The Mummers Dance and Caravanserai..The High Court had granted an ex-parte injunction in September 2011 restricting the proposed release of the song in any other language. The respondent had filed an undertaking on April 30, 2012 stating that they would duly comply with the said injunction. Subsequently, a contempt petition was filed by McKennitt contending that the respondents had gone ahead and released the song in Tamil and Telugu..Advocate Julien George from Sai Krishna & Associates, appearing for McKennitt, argued that the injunction order had not been complied with by the respondents Deepak Dev, August Cinemas India Pvt. Ltd and the distributors – Aditya Music and Sony Music. It was contended that the songs were released and were publicly available on the internet as well as on CDs in the market..The Tamil and Telugu versions of the song, argued George, were only different by way of the language of the lyrics. George relied on the opinion of an expert in Musicology to buttress her case. She contended that the melody of the new versions of the songs, on which Mckinnitt had claimed the copyright was still the same..The respondents on the other hand contended that the Telugu version of the song was released prior to the grant of injunction and therefore outside the scope of it and that the Tamil version is different in composition from the Canadian musician’s works. The respondents also submitted that the Malayalam version of the song, which is available on internet, would be removed..The Court said that the question of infringement can be decided only after the songs are played before the court..The matter will now be heard on September 29. The Court will listen to the original and the Tamil versions of the song on the said date and will decide on the issue of copyright infringement as well as on whether or not the respondent is bound to delete the Telugu version of the song..Image courtesy:.Urumi.Loreena McKennit