Kantara Song Copyright Case: Kerala HC Permits Petitioner To Move Kozhikode District Court

The Kerala High Court recently granted the petitioner ‘Thaikkudam Bridge’ permission to contest its copyright infringement suit over a ‘Varaha Roopam’ song in the Kannada film ‘Kantara’ before the Kozhikode District Court in Kerala.

The song Varaha Roopam in Kantara has been the subject of two lawsuits filed by ‘Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd’ and ‘Thaikkudam Bridge’, the copyright holder and creator of another song called ‘Navarasam’, which was released over 5 years ago.

Thaikkudam Bridge, the petitioner in the current case, filed the suit in the Kozhikode District Court, which granted temporary injunction orders restraining the makers of the film from using ‘Varaha Roopam’ on streaming platforms and in movie theatres.

However, it later dismissed Thaikkudam Bridge’s plea, ruling that it was not maintainable before it and should have been filed with the Commercial Court in Ernakulam instead.

The Kerala High Court then stayed this order of dismissal. During the pendency of the High Court proceedings, Thaikkudam Bridge removed several respondents from all petitions and suits it filed, including ‘Kantara’ director Rishab Shetty. Only music composer BL Ajneesh remained a party to the case at the time of disposal.

Thaikkudam Bridge was able to contest its suit before the Kozhikode District Court due to a recent ruling by Justice MR Anitha.

The single judge stated that she could not dispose of the plea in a “full-fledged” manner because Thaikkudam Bridge had removed the majority of the parties to the suit and, as a result, may now have to make drastic changes to its pleadings and reliefs sought.

Instead, Justice Anitha thought it was appropriate to discuss the legal issues raised during the case.

One of the issues was where a plaintiff, in this case Thaikkudam Bridge, could file a copyright infringement suit.

According to Section 20 of the CrPC, the plaintiff’s choice is limited to filing a suit in a court whose jurisdiction the defendant resides or conducts business, or in a place where the cause of action arises wholly or partly.

The plaintiff has a broader power to institute the suit under Section 62 of the Copyright Act, including the District Court where the plaintiff resides or conducts business.

The Court pointed out that this provision makes no mention of the cause of action arising in the jurisdiction.

Justice Anitha observed that Section 62 only expands the rights under Section 20, not limits them.

As a result, it was ordered that Thaikkudam Bridge can move its suit in Kozhikode even though the band members live elsewhere. This is because the film Kantara, as well as the song ‘Varaha Roopam’, were shown in Kozhikode theatres, and thus the cause of action arose in part there, the Court held.