Indian Performing Right Society v. Eastern Indian Motion Pictures Association
Rule established
Once copyright in musical/literary work assigned to film producer, author cannot independently claim performing rights through IPRS (reversed by 2012 Amendment)
Facts
- IPRS (Indian Performing Right Society) demanded licence fees from film producers for public performance of musical works in films
- IPRS claimed to represent composers/lyricists as assignees of performing rights
- Film producers argued they owned all rights upon assignment from authors during film production
Issue
- Whether lyricists/composers who assigned copyright to film producers retained any performing rights that IPRS could enforce independently.
Held
- No. Under pre-2012 law, once copyright was assigned to the film producer, all rights including public performance and broadcasting vested exclusively with the producer. The author could not retain or separately assign performing rights to IPRS.
Ratio Decidendi
Assignment of copyright transfers all exclusive rights to the assignee. Under the pre-2012 Copyright Act, there was no statutory carve-out preserving authors' performing rights after assignment to film producers. The producer became the absolute owner of copyright in the work as incorporated in the film. Historical note: This position was corrected by the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012, which inserted provisos to S.18 and S.19 ensuring that authors of literary/musical works in films retain the right to receive royalties for non-theatrical utilisation.
How to use it in an exam
Part A: Contrast pre-2012 and post-2012 position of lyricists/composers. Key line: "The 2012 Amendment overturned this position by restoring authors' right to receive royalties even after assignment to the film producer."
Source
Source: AIR Online
This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.