Delhi High Court Orders Rakshit Shetty's Banner To Pay ₹25 Lakh Over Unauthorised Song Use In 'Bachelor Party'

The Delhi High Court has directed Kannada actor-director Rakshit Shetty's production house, Paramvah Studios, to deposit Rs 20 lakh as licence fee and imposed Rs 5 lakh as costs for contempt, holding that the unauthorised use of two Kannada film songs in Bachelor Party was purposeful and not trivial.

A Bench of Justice Tejas Karia rejected the studio's de minimis defence, holding that “the application of the 'de minimis' or fair use standard is determined primarily by qualitative aspects rather than quantitative measures.”

The court found that the songs “Nyaya Ellide” (used for 7 seconds) and “Omme Ninnanu” (31 seconds) were consciously chosen to enhance the film's narrative, including a scene reflecting the protagonist's emotional turmoil, and therefore could not be treated as incidental use.

The dispute traces back to a suit filed by MRT Music against Paramvah Studios and others, accusing them of using the songs in the film without securing a synchronization licence. According to the plaintiff, the rights in the works had been acquired through an assignment from the original rights holder. It also pointed out that the defendants had reached out for a licence shortly before the film's release, but went ahead with the use without finalising any permission.

The court accepted this line of argument, noting that MRT Music had been able to prima facie establish its ownership over both the sound recordings and the underlying literary and musical works. It also found no merit in the defendants' claim that the copyright had lapsed.

The court also dismissed the studio's argument that MRT Music could not grant licences because it was not a registered copyright society under the Copyright Act. It clarified that an individual copyright owner is entitled to license its own works.

On the issue of jurisdiction, the court held that the availability of the film on OTT platforms in Delhi was sufficient to confer jurisdiction, even though both parties are based in Bengaluru.

The bench further found that the defendants had failed to comply with its earlier order directing deposit of Rs 20 lakh within the stipulated time and held that the delay amounted to wilful non-compliance. It consequently imposed Rs 5 lakh in costs to purge the contempt.

The case arose after Bachelor Party was released in theaters and later on OTT platforms without securing a licence for the use of the songs, despite prior discussions between the parties.