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File image of music composer A.R. Rahman | Photo Credit: B. Velankanni Raj
The April 25, 2025 order had directed Mr. Rahman and the movie’s co-producers — Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions — to deposit ₹2 crore with the courtroom registry, revise the credit on digital platforms, and pay prices to classical vocalist and Padma Shri awardee Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar.
Central to the case was whether or not the late Junior Dagar Brothers — Ustad N. Faiyazuddin Dagar and Ustad Zahiruddin Dagar — might be thought-about the unique authors of “Shiva Stuti”, a Dhrupad composition.
A Bench of Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla noticed that the declare of unique authorship over the composition “Shiva Stuti”, allegedly copied in “Veera Raja Veera”, couldn’t be sustained.
“As the declare of authorship is rejected, there isn’t any requirement to enter the opposite points of originality or infringement,” the courtroom stated.
In the 93-page verdict, the courtroom underscored the complexity of making use of copyright legislation to classical music traditions.
“The info and circumstances of the current case convey to fore the intricate process of making use of trendy copyright rules, rooted in individualisation, to conventional heritage artwork varieties which have advanced collectively over centuries, for which the privilege of copyright safety might not be obtainable,” the courtroom noticed.
The courtroom additionally famous that a number of branches of the Dagar household, together with the Gundecha Brothers and their disciples, had publicly carried out equivalent compositions with out unique attribution.
“This demonstrates that the swimsuit composition has been preserved and disseminated throughout generations inside the Dagarvani custom, throughout the Dagar household and their disciples,” it remarked.
The courtroom stated permitting monopolisation of such composition “would adversely have an effect on how younger musicians study Indian classical music and share compositions whereas coaching”.
The courtroom’s ruling, delivered on Mr. Rahman’s enchantment, put aside the April order’s findings of infringement and monetary legal responsibility in opposition to him.
According to Mr. Dagar, the “Shiva Stuti” composition was created by his father and uncle, often called the Junior Dagar Brothers, someday within the Nineteen Seventies. He claimed that following their deaths in 1989 and 1994 respectively, the copyright handed to him via an oral household settlement among the many authorized heirs.
Mr. Dagar additional alleged that the composition was shared with Mr. Rahman with out his information or authorisation and was subsequently used within the movie’s soundtrack with out applicable credit score.
Published – September 24, 2025 12:28 pm IST
