‘Gunjan Saxena’ Controversy: Delhi HC summons Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions after ISRA filed suit for alleged ‘commercial exploitation’

The Delhi High Court has issued summons to Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions to file a response to the Indian Singers Rights Association’s (ISRA) suit against the production house seeking royalty for the commercial exploitation of their performance in ‘Gunjan Saxena- The Kargil Girl’.

As per a report in ANI, a single-judge bench of Justice Mukta Gupta issued the summons. The court ordered for the next hearing on March 12, 2021. The court said, “Considering the fact that the rival contentions and the underlying agreements are yet to be considered by this Court, this Court, at this stage, is deferring passing any order/directions to the defendant to deposit the amount till the next date of hearing before which date parties will complete their pleadings.”

As per the plaintiff, the production house commercially used three performances of the members of the plaintiff society i.e. performers’ rights in ‘Ae Ji O Ji’ from the cinematograph film ‘Ram Lakhan’, ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’ from the cinematograph film ‘Khalnayak’ and ‘Saajan Ji Ghar Aaye’ from the film ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’. The licence for these songs had been taken from the label concerned.

Plaintiff has claimed its rights on the basis of Section 2q and Section 2qq of the Copyright Act, which defines the ‘performance’ and ‘performer’ as also sections 38A and 38B of the Copyright Act.

Stay tuned for more updates on this.

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