Two suits were initiated against India TV by Yashraj Films Pvt. Ltd.

, one for using a

line from a popular Hindi song in an advertisement broadcast by the entity and
the other for airing a program where Vasundhara Das, a renowned playback
singer, sang nine stanzas from songs which had made her famous.
PARTIES
Appellant: India TV Independent News
Respondent: Yashraj Films Pvt. Ltd.
MAIN ADVOCATES
Appellant: Ms. Pratibha M. Singh with Ms. Ujjwala Jeremiah and Ms. Chandrika
Gupta
Respondent: Mr. Pravin Anand with Ms. Geetanjali Visvanathan
ARGUMENTS
Appellant:
1. Considering the 5 factors of de minimis, the damage done is trivial.
2. If a singer in a chat show were to sing, as long as the singing duration is
limited to a minute or so at a time, it would be a case of de minimis use and
hence the appropriation of the lyrics and sound recording would not
constitute an actionable violation of the copyright in the sound recording.
Respondent:
1. Use of a part of the song Kajra Re (copyright owned by Yashraj Films) in
an advertisement broadcasted by India TV.
2. For a programme India Beats on India TV the singer performed in full or
in part, nine stanzas from songs that whose sound recording rights were
not hers(7 of them were of Yashraj Films).
Issue of part of popular song being used in the advertisement:
The court held that the party had not infringed the copyright, finding that the
purpose of the advertisement was to create awareness and harped on the de
minimis defence- only five words were used, which the judges considered too
trivial to warrant an actionable claim. There was also no evidence of whether it
was a paid advertisement or whether the advertisement was made in the context
of social corporate responsibility. Also if the purpose was commercial, the
respondent would have charged Rs. 10,000 and the court argued that such an
amount was trivial when compared to cost of adjudication.
Issue of a popular singer singing various songs that she had performed as
playback singer but didnt have rights of on a TV chat show:
The court held that the singing consumed less than 10 minutes of the total
show time and the aim was to highlight the achievements of her life as a singer,
relying on the de minimis defence.
Is there a development of the order?
There has been no development of this order since.
Is it a reinforcement of the previous order?
Yes, the case is a reinforcement of a previous order where the single judge of the
Delhi High Court had ruled in favor of Yashraj Films Pvt. Ltd. And restrained India
TV saying that a derivative copyrightable work such as a sound recording cannot
be appropriated.
This judgment was later challenged by India TV which led to the present case.
The Copyright Act, 1957:
1. Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an
original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that
work.
2. A copyrighted work may be used under certain conditions:
a) Public Domain
b) Permission
c) Legal Exception
d) Fair use
Fair Use / Fair Dealing
1. Indian Context According to Section 52 of the copyright act 1957, certain
acts are not to be infringement of Copyright.
 2. Fair use is not defined in the Copyright Act 1957. Further Sections 52(1)
deals with, fair dealing as a defence applies only to literary, dramatic
musical or artistic work. It should be noted that fair dealing applies only
with respect to and not to reproduction of the work.
De minimis:
De minimis is a Latin expression meaning about minimal things, normally in the
locutions de minimis non curat praetor [The praetor does not concern himself
with trifles] or de minimis non curat lex[The law does not concern itself with
trifles].
Arguments for De minimis:
1. The fair use concept is a bad theoretical fit for trivial violations.
2. A De minims analysis is much easier.
3. A De minimis determination is the least time consuming and it is in the
interest of the parties and the courts to use it. Again this is a valid point
since litigations involving fair use have dragged on for ages in the past.
Conclusions
The development in technological infrastructure and the multifunctional
character of the information and communication technology eases copyright
violation which may lead to rise in trivial disputes. Clarification regarding the aims
and mechanism of the maxim have therefore assumed significance. The court
and copyright office had to carefully analyze the loopholes existing in the law
prevailing in relation to de minimis and copyright law in India so that minimum
standards are set on the grounds of which the size of legal violation and
subsequently the size of harm caused due to the same can be measured.