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  Copyright Concerns: A Case study from Indian Music - Dr. Arshiya Sethi e-mail: arshiyasethi@gmail.com May 28, 2025 At a time when the nation is mourning its dead tourists in the recent Pahalgam terrorist attack and containing enemy attacks through Operation Sindoor, I fear that not many would be interested about writings on music and the arts. Yet I do so because the bad times will pass and we will come back to being who we are- a civilization that values the arts and creativity, both of which flourish during times of peace. What I write today, is a tribute to those "achhe din" that lie ahead, round the corner, literally. It is also in keeping with the reason for my incessant writings on the lesser considered subject of arts and the law, as I want to imprint in the minds of all artists, the elements of the law that are uniquely applicable only to creative beings and which is both our right and our responsibility as stakeholders in the arts. In this article, I focus on copyright. In recent days, the issue of copyright in the arts has been very much in the news, with the Delhi High Court hearing and then passing an interim order on case between Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar and A.R. Rahman. As this matter is sub-judice, I use only the facts in the public domain or those referred to in the order of Justice Pratibha Singh to reiterate some of the ideas and terms that are used in the understanding of Intellectual Property Rights. On 25th April, the Delhi High Court directed renowned music director and composer A.R. Rahman, along with the co-producers of the film Ponniyin Selvan 2, popularly called PS 2, to deposit ₹2 crore with the court registry over an alleged copyright infringement related to the song Veera Raja Veera featured in the 2023 film. Though not a final but an interim order, it has been described by Varsha Jhavar, blogger and LLM candidate of Berkley University specialising in IPR, as "potentially (having) far-reaching consequences on the crossroads of copyright and Indian classical music". Both artistes in this controversy are big names, with an international repute to defend, which will definitely get impacted. The flag bearer for twenty generations of Dagarvani, one of the major traditions of Dhrupad singing within the classical music spectrum, renowned Hindustani music vocalist Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar, recipient of the Padma Shri, filed a lawsuit accusing Mr. Rahman and the film's production houses - Madras Talkies and Lyca Productions - of unauthorised use of a classical composition, titled Shiva Stuti, that has been a speciality 'bandish' or composition of his family. In Indian music the term gharana literally means lineage but refers not just to Gurus bearing the name Dagar, but also their students, thereby using the word Dagarvani as a descriptor. In his plaint, Wasifuddin Dagar specifically prayed for a permanent and mandatory injunction and for recognition of the copyright in the composition "Shiva Stuti". He also sought to restrain Rahman and producers of PS 2 from utilizing the composition as part of sound recording of the impugned song "Veera Raja Veera", which he claimed had been done without obtaining authorisation from him and without attribution of moral rights of the original authors / composers of the suit composition. It is important to recognise, first and foremost that copyright covers only original work. So, the first issue the court had to establish was whether it was an original work of the Dagar Brothers. This stuti, which most music lovers have heard sometime or the other, was originally composed in the 1970s by the Junior Dagar Brothers, which was a duo comprising of plaintiff Wasifuddin Dagar's father, the late Ustad N. Faiyazuddin Dagar and his uncle, Faiyaz sahib's elder brother, the late Ustad Zahiruddin Dagar. In his plea, Wasif submitted that "the Junior Dagar Brothers had performed the suit composition, along with several other compositions, at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam on 22nd June 1978. The said institute had recorded the said performance, which was later published and made available as a musical album titled 'Shiva Mahadeva by the Dagar Brothers', by an international music company - PAN Records." The chronology and the dating of a work is the next most important aspect, as it establishes the first claim to copyright. Because the date of 1978 is far earlier than the time that Rahman made the PS 2 composition, it would appear that the first claim to copyright lies with Wasif. All artistes must realise the importance of establishing the date of composition in any way you can. Social media is a wonderful way to establish date of creation, in the public domain. Arts entrepreneur Dr. Anita Ratnam shared another way to date an artistic work in a conference on copyright. She suggests that you can also establish the date of a composition by posting to yourself all details, notes and worksheets as well as a full and final creation, by a government courier bearing the stamp, and keep it unopened, so that if ever you need to establish the provenance of an artistic work this couriered letter/parcel. However, it is important also to remember that according to the Berne convention, to which India is a signatory, protection is granted automatically, without requiring registration or other formalities. However, establishing chronology makes it easier to argue first claimant privilege. The Dagar brothers sang together seamlessly, as a Dhrupad duo, dovetailing their notes and melodies unerringly, for several years. Their partnership ended when in 1989, the younger brother passed away. After that, Zahiruddin Dagar sang in the duo format with Wasif himself, till 1994, when Zahiruddin Dagar also passed away. Subsequently Wasif sang solo. In 1994, as part of an oral settlement the rights to sing this composition were given to all Dagars in the family and the shishyas in the Guru Shishya parampara. Anyone who loves Dhrupad gayaki could not have missed this Shiva Stuti in Raga Adana, set to Sultaal, a 10-beat cycle. It was what Dhrupad lovers waited for in every concert by the Dagar brothers and now of Wasif's. It was taught generously to many students. A Guru teaches his students in the Guru shishya Parampara, which many have argued is the secret of the brilliance of Indian music, with the Guru seeing his endeavours as a form of gyaan daan. This is how the Dagar brothers themselves taught and how Wasif now teaches. Therefore, any shishya of the gharana has the full right to sing the composition as it was taught, providing for the minor elements of difference that come into play as each shishya interprets the same raga somewhat differently. Therefore, it is ironical that the song in the Hindi version of PS 2 was sung by two of the students of the Dagarvani, Arman Ali Dehlvi and Shivam Bhardwaj. They knew that they were singing it differently but may not have known copyright enough to raise a red flag. Since they did not raise the red flag, we may assume that they know that this was going to snowball into a major issue of copyright, where they would also be named in the plaint. It is important for all artists and students of the arts, especially traditional and classical arts, to understand that having been taught a composition by the Guru himself, they have every right to sing it? But with due acknowledgement. The tendency of dancers and musicians to invoke their Gurus from stage during a concert, often adding that everything that will be good in the performance is the guru's doing and all that fall short is their own inadequacy, is an example of that acknowledgement. The next question that we should discuss here is whether the shishya should emulate the Guru with exactitude? That is not really possible because the good Guru teaches keeping the student's uniqueness in mind. Eminent vocalist Prof. Rita Ganguly often tells that her Guru Begum Akhtar would always forbid her students to imitate her. So even when her spectrum of students would sing, each had a unique signature. So, while implicitly a shishya may begin by imitating, eventually Guru and the mature shishya may sound somewhat different, but not radically. If the student then sings the same composition, as taught by the Guru, in a different context than in a concert, say in a fashion show, permission, credit sharing and profit sharing would appear to be the ethical thing to do. To sing a variation, strikingly similar, with someone else claiming its credit should have stirred Guru bhakti and frank conversations, and possibly also the seeking of permissions. The 'mahaul' or environment in the gurukul atmosphere of the Dagar home, teaches much more than music. It teaches a respectful way of life. One would assume that the students then would have learnt that an adaptation of the original teaching in text and context would have created a situation where the Guru should have been informed and permission sought, especially in the wake of a strident similarity in the two compositions. Before undertaking the singing, which was identical musically, but different in text and in a completely different context, should have ideally evoked caution and compliance, which in this case would have amounted to informing and then seeking permission from their Guru, now the holder of the copyright, and the according of credit as deemed appropriate by the copyright holder, as well as an offer of sharing profits. Thus, three things are involved - permission, called license in legal terminology, credit and profit-sharing. The students failed in all three. Then we come to the culpability of the creators of the song Veera Raja Veera. Any musical composition consists of the lyrics and the melodic line captured in the notes. Now in this case, the lyrics were not the source of contention. The film was made in several languages. Its lyrics were original in all languages. Its words in Hindi are written by Gulzar. In Tamil by Illango Krishnan. In Telugu the words are written by Chandrabose. In Malayalam the lyricist was Rafeeq Ahmed and in Kannada the lyrics are by Jayant Kaikini. Thus, the poetry is all original, but around the same idea of praising the powerful king. It is the music that is troublesome since the music composer was common to all language versions of the film, and its songs, including the cause celebre song. Thus, A. R. Rahman composed the film song to sound identical to each language version, and all allegations about the similarity to the Dhrupad composition, are also his to bear. Copyright is seen both as a natural right of authors and as a statutory right emanating from the parliamentary efforts. Interestingly, the amendment of 2012, to the Copyright Act, which are colloquially known as the Javed Akhtar amendments, gave a better deal to the lyricists and composers, who thus far had been at a disadvantage from film producers and sound recording companies. With these 2012 amendments, they were not only assured a better deal on the issue of fair revenue distribution, but the amendment, also introduced protection from assignment of copyrights in future technologies, and changes in the administration of copyright societies. Thus the 2012 parliamentary action helped to correct the legislative imbalance of rights assigned to composers and lyricists and is therefore, a path-breaking remedy for the copyright regime in India. In the court, with respect to this case, the arguments of the defence lawyers included a vast variety of plausibility, that help us understand copyright in the unique background of the Indian arts better, and is therefore something all artists should follow. The discourse and debate went on these lines. Can a raga be copyrighted? While all ragas have definitive notes, several of the notes of several ragas are also found in other ragas. This particular argument cited the similarities with the well-known Amir Khusro composition "Yar man biya biya" which is usually sung in the raag Darbari Kanada. The court room rang with notes of ragas and bandishes, an aural-scape seldom heard in courtrooms. But this was not the first time and neither will it be the last time. In fact, this is a scenario that may play out with greater frequency in the years to come as the world of the arts becomes more conscious of copyright issues and as the plexus of laws and judgements get better established. It was argued that many songs and melodies serve as inspiration for others, and may "have a core of similarity", or "share a soul", but while a song with no malefic intentions may sound a somewhat like the other, it would only sound like, not be exactly alike. Those who know Hindustani music, the north Indian classical style of classical music, know that Hindustani music has a set of building blocks that come together in every composition. Hindustani music is arranged in gharanas, genres, ragas and talas. These are like different architectural designs that have to be imbricated together. Now different ragas would have different notes. Not just notes but notes of the aroha, avaroha, alaap and pakad, parts of the raga, that constitute a unique and identifiable notational signature of every raga. The talas all have different beat patterns, and within the patterns are different rhythmic substructures like tihais, relas, and chalans, amongst other percussive featured embellishments. The genres, like dhrupad, khayal, thumri etc, each have different melodic and 'svas' or breath protocols. Additionally, each gharana, or lineage structures have their own different and defining flavours. Unlike CAD drawings that architects use, where the plumbing design, the structural design, the electric design and elevation for one building all must align completely, in Hindustani classical music the choice that the individual artiste enjoys, literally his 'manodharma' or creative freedom, allows for so many permutations and combinations, that it is impossible for all points to match. Now, while sharing an 'ang' with the raga Darbari Kanada, the raga Adana is different due to Darbari Kanada's glissading 'ga'. This is what differentiates between the Khusro bandish and the Shiva Stuti, which an expert can catch immediately even while a lay person may be befuddled with the similarity. This element of difference is what the defendant's argument attempted to build upon, saying that the orchestration, the harmonies, and the introduction of flashes of different ragas like Jaunpuri, Bihag and Hameer Kalyani, create a melange and take away from the exclusive dependence on Adana. In fact, it was argued that Veera Raja Veera was closer to the melody of Darbari Kanada. But this is once again an oversimplification, for a raga is only one of the building blocks of the composition and not the composition per se. It is further alleged that the Stuti uses Sul taal (10 beat) whereas the impugned song uses Ardh Jhap taal (5 beat). The judge hearing this case was Justice Pratibha Singh, who has a deep interest in IPR issues. According to her, the crux of the matter was the conflict between rewarding creativity and stifling creativity. While for Wasifuddin Dagar the contribution and creativity of the Junior Dagar Brothers deserves to be rewarded, the defendants argued that recognizing copyright in such a case would stifle creativity. In a 117-page verdict, Justice Prathiba M. Singh held that the Veera Raja Veera song is "not merely based on or inspired from the suit composition Shiva Stuti but is, in fact, identical to the suit composition with mere change in lyrics". To arrive at this point, the judge took into account the fact that the defendant had claimed repeatedly that it was not a traditional composition but something he had consciously created using notations in the western system which he created on a piano, as he is wont to do. If not traditional, then, the judge went on to reiterate that, the core of the impugned song Veera Raja Veera, a consciously created work, was identical in Swaras (notes), Bhava (Emotion) and Aural impact (impact on the ear) to the Shiva Stuti, from the point of view of a lay listener. Hence, according to the judge, the Defendant's composition infringes the Plaintiff's rights in the Shiva Stuti. In this judgement, even though referring to the lay listener, the legal mind has gone beyond the oversimplified 'lay persons test', to the stricter standard of the virtual identity test, using notations and expert opinions. Admittedly there still remain some intrinsic complications in a music system that is not notated, that is orally passed on, where imitation is an essential part of the intergenerational transmission, where Guru bhakti is the only protection and the custom is the tradition. There are also many problems with the popular understanding of copyright in the context of the Indian Hindustani classical music tradition where the singer is often the composer who improvises as he moves along the song. The improvisational element goes against the notated kind of fixity of the western idea of music. Originally the copyright act sought to preserve the idea of notated music. But we have seen that those judgements and amendments, like that of 2012, help move the discourse forward and this judgement too will have a big impact on the understanding of Indian classical music in the background of legal protocols pertaining to copyright.  Independent scholar, author and twice a Fulbright fellow, Dr. Arshiya Sethi, has been dance critic, presented the National programme for Dance and Music on Doordarshan for over three decades and was advisor to DD Bharati. Her scholarly research focuses, through a multi-disciplinary lens, on cultural ecology at the intersection of politics and cultural expressions. She has worked on Assam for her doctoral thesis, specifically on the dance style of Sattriya, looking at it through a political lens. She currently edits South Asian Dance Intersections (SADI), an international peer reviewed online journal hosted by the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. Her current writings are on Arts and the Law and she her Kri Foundation co supports the website Unmute.help, a one window access to legal awareness on rights and responsibilities of arts and arts leaders. Post your comments Pl provide your name and email id along with your comment. 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