The Delhi High Court has cancelled the copyright registration of the sound recording ‘Radhey Radhey Barsane Wali Radhey’ after finding that the petitioner was not given the mandatory prior notice before the registration was granted.
Justice Jyoti Singh was hearing a petition filed by Vipul Music Company under Section 50 of the Copyright Act, 1957, challenging the registration of the sound recording bearing Registration dated November 11, 2020.
Vipul Music Company claimed that it owned the copyright in the underlying work and argued that the registration in favour of the other respondent was granted without issuing notice to it.
The petitioner relied on Rule 16(3) of the Copyright Rules, 1958, which required an applicant for registration to give notice to persons claiming an interest in the copyright or disputing the applicant’s rights. The petitioner argued that no such notice had been issued to it before the impugned registration.
During the hearing, the respondent did not dispute that the petitioner had not been issued notice under Rule 16(3). It agreed that the matter could be sent back to the Registrar of Copyrights for fresh consideration.
The High Court consequently partially allowed the petition and cancelled the copyright registration. It directed that the original application for registration be treated as revived and considered afresh by the Registrar.
The petitioner has been given six weeks to file its objections before the Registrar. The respondent can file its response within two weeks thereafter, following which the Registrar has been directed to decide the application within eight weeks.
The Court clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the copyright dispute, leaving all rights and contentions of the parties open.
