Oye Oye was everywhere when the film, Tridev, released in 1989. Today, over three decades later, the chartbuster has landed filmmaker Aditya Dhar and his massive hit Dhurandhar The Revenge in legal trouble. Last week, Tridev filmmaker Rajiv Rai filed a lawsuit against Dhar’s banner B62 Studios for allegedly using his song in the movie without seeking his permission.

“After I saw the movie and my song in it, I was in shock. I filed [the legal suit] now because it takes time to move the court,” said Rai, on a call with mid-day.

In the first hearing that took place on April 9, Rai’s production house Trimurti Films alleged that the usage of Oye Oye amounted to copyright infringement. While the filmmaker admitted that Tridev’s music was sold to late Gulshan Kumar and his label T-Series in the late ’80s, his point of contention is that the contract did not mention anything about the songs being remixed. According to him, composer Shashwat Sachdev reimagining it as Rang De Lal is a copyright violation.

He said, “I count all my songs as my creativity, along with that of the music director and lyricist. The catch is when you sold the music in the ’70s and ’80s, you had to sign a [contract]. In it, there was no [mention of] remixes or that one could take a song and put it in another film. That phenomenon didn’t exist then. I’m sure when you sign that piece of paper, you don’t sign away your copyright, IP [Intellectual Property], or creative rights. I have not created the song for some guy to mutilate it.”

For Rai, what added insult to the injury is the reinterpretation of the track. “They have mutilated Oye Oye, and the young producer [Dhar] feigns innocence. They have crossed the line. Where is their conscience? My lawyer said [the case] becomes too ambiguous [due to the contract]. But where have I given the permission to mutilate my song?”

- During a film’s making, the producer is the primary copyright holder for the music.

- The music label acquires these rights from the producer while buying the film’s music. Contemporary contracts of labels include the all formats clause, which means the company has the power to remix and recreate the acquired songs.

- In the absence of an all formats clause, before remixing a song, the label has to take consent from the producer, who in turn has to seek permission from the composer, lyricist, and other stakeholders.

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