Bollywood's reliance on old film songs for marketing faces mounting legal challenges due to fragmented copyright ownership. According to reports from Mint, the ongoing legal battle between Vashu Bhagnani's production house Pooja Entertainment and director David Dhawan and Tips Industries over the recreation rights to old songs from the 1999 hit Biwi No. 1 exemplifies these complexities. The track Chunnari Chunnari was recreated for the film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, which released in theatres this weekend. Pooja Entertainment has filed a ₹400-crore lawsuit in the Bombay High Court, alleging that the song was recreated without permission, while Tips has denied the allegations. In a press meet last month, Bhagnani emphasized that the issue extends beyond one film or song, describing it as a larger fight for producers across the industry who lose long-term ownership and royalty benefits despite investing their lives and finances into films.
The acquisition of rights to old music proves complex because these assets are rarely owned by a single entity. As reported by Mint, a producer may acquire rights from a music label, but this may only cover the sound recording. Rights over lyrics, composition, film, remakes, adaptations and promotional use are frequently dispersed across multiple stakeholders, requiring separate clearances. Industry experts point out that in older Bollywood catalogues, paperwork is often scattered and digital usage was never clearly imagined, making the real question not whether rights were taken, but whether appropriate rights were secured from the correct party for the correct use. For songs like Tirchhi Topiwale, rights may be split between the producer (Trimurti Films), the music label (Super Cassettes/T-Series), and individual lyricists and composers. This split-rights problem is common with pre-1990s Bollywood content, where rights were not always comprehensively assigned in writing.
The fragmentation of copyright ownership in older Indian film music creates significant challenges. According to Chirag Gupta, associate partner at law firm Alpha Partners, for songs like Tirchhi Topiwale, rights may be split between the producer (Trimurti Films), the music label (Super Cassettes/T-Series), and individual lyricists and composers. Avadhi Joshi, co-founder of Minara Legal, noted that the Indian music industry has monetised pre-2000 catalogues for recreations and OTT platforms for two decades without ever verifying whether original rights assignments actually permit such use. This creates a lose-lose situation where courts could either rule that broadly-worded 1980s assignments cover synchronisation in new films, permanently surrendering catalogue control, or rule such assignments were format-limited, collapsing the licensing model. Anushkaa Arora, principal and founder of ABA Law Office, said such legal disputes may trigger an extensive re-evaluation of archival contracts executed in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, many of which may not have clearly addressed remix rights, adaptation rights, OTT exploitation, AI-assisted recreation, digital sampling or short-form content usage.
Industry experts anticipate significant changes in how Bollywood approaches retro song rights. Rohith Sobti, curator and co-founder of The Shakti Collective, described the case as a massive wake-up call that will trigger a heavy phase of forensic due diligence across the industry. According to Sobti, digital platforms, studios, and production houses are going to be incredibly cautious before investing millions into content that relies on legacy tracks. The industry for years functioned on commercial assumptions rather than strict contractual scrutiny, but now with older songs becoming major monetisable assets again, original producers and rights holders are revisiting the scope of legacy contracts far more aggressively. Anushkaa Arora added that music labels and film producers may become far more cautious before using retro tracks in films, web series or advertisements, which could increase transaction costs as parties may now insist on layered clearances involving sound recording rights, literary and lyrical rights, publishing rights, synchronisation rights, moral rights and adaptation permissions. Abhinay Sharma, managing partner at ASL Partners, suggested that the Indian entertainment industry may require more standardized licensing frameworks specifically dealing with recreated music, interpolations and sampled works, with stronger indemnity protections and pre-release legal vetting likely to become standard industry practice.
