NavaRoopam

 

Dr. Benjamin Mitra-Kahn once said, “When it comes to intellectual property rights, not everything that glitters is gold.” And this holds for Varaha Roopam a raging hit song from the movie Kantara.

Kantara is a Kannada movie released on 30^th September 2022 and produced by Hombale Films, a premier movie production house of the Kannada film industry popularly known as ‘Sandalwood’. Since its release, the movie has garnered immense recognition and support from people all over the country for its rooted storytelling, stunning visuals, and music that brings the traditions and rituals of coastal Karnataka to the big screen. The movie boasts an amazing music album, but the song that stands out is Varaha Roopam which adds the much-needed emotional element at the climax.

The popular music group Thaikkudam Bridge from Kerala claims that their 2015 song "Navarasa," has been duplicated in the song "Varaha Roopam." The producers of "Kantara" have been ordered to stop playing the song "Varaha Roopam" in the film and on music streaming services till the dispute is resolved after Thaikkudam filed a lawsuit in a Kerala District Court. Thaikkudam Bridge alleges that both the songs are similar because the ‘Ragas’ used in them are distinctly similar to one another. However, the film’s creators argue that it cannot be termed as a copyright infringement merely because the ragas are the same, because the expressions i.e. the musical compositions used in Varaha Roopam differ from that of Navarasa.

Thaikkudam has refuted this claim by highlighting parallels in song structure, chords, the degree of instrument usage similarity, etc. The group said that Varaha Roopam, written by music director Ajaneesh Lokanath, had been claimed as an original work despite its obvious and "unavoidable similarities" to Navarasa, their intellectual property. They distinguished between "inspired" and "plagiarised," the latter being the more serious offence (IP).

Now that the Court has barred Kantara's creators from playing the song in theatres and on streaming services, the Court is presumptive of the conclusion that songs (expressions) and not only ideas are comparable (raga).

 

Copyright law was brought into force to encourage artists, musicians, authors, and creators to express themselves through various mediums such as songs, books, paintings, and other creative works. Because of this, copyright law only protects expression and not ideas (of that idea). And on account of this, you can find countless films (or phrases) based on the same concept (for example, romance). To seek copyright protection, you must demonstrate that your work is an original and creative expression of an idea. The issue arises when one creator duplicates the expression of another creative while claiming to have merely copied the concept and not the expression, in which case no copyright violation has occurred.

It then rests on the Court to decide whether the issue involves the theft of an idea or a mere expression.

Many attribute the success of the movie Kantara to the song Varaha Roopam and have expressed their disappointment over the new version of the song which featured in the movie following its release on an OTT platform. The suit is currently pending in court and a decision is eagerly awaited.