The Supreme Court recently appointed former Gujarat High Court Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattarcharya as the sole arbitrator in a contractual dispute between Saregama India Limited and Triller Incorporated.
A bench comprised of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha and Justice JB Pardiwala passed the order on a plea by the music company Saregama.
In March 2021, Indian music company Saregama and short-video app Triller signed a global licensing agreement that would allow the latter’s users to access the former’s catalog while creating videos.
Triller was to pay a flat fee of 400,000$ by April for the first 12 months of the deal, that would begin from October 2021. The following year, 500,000$ were to be paid. Furthermore, 350,000$ was to be paid as a one-time past-use fee within 15 days.
Triller failed to make the required payments despite multiple reminders, oral communication and statutory notices.
In addition, it took longer than 30 days to appoint an arbitrator after Saregama initiated the process, which prompted the apex court to hear the current plea.
The arbitration petition filed by Saregama received notice from the supreme court in October 2022.
