CHENNAI: The popular Symphony Recording Company has been restrained from distributing, manufacturing and selling of Kanda Sashti Kavacham album songs sung by Carnatic vocalist ‘Mahanadhi’ Shobhana. In an interim order, the Madras High Court observed that the agreement between the company and the singer could no more be enforced as Shobhana was a minor when the deal was made.
Earlier, Shobana had approached the court to restrain the recording company from continuing the promote her songs through their YouTube channel while also using her name and images. She claimed that she was just 13 years of age when she entered into an agreement with the recording studio for the album.
She also said that the company had taken an image from her personal Facebook account, without her consent, and used it to promote her songs on the internet, and thereby made ‘illegal profits’. The views on the YouTube video have surpassed 47 million so far. Meanwhile, the company held that Shobana does not have any right under the Copyright Act.
Justice MS Ramesh gave credence to the fact that Shobana was a minor when the agreement was sealed. “The terms of the document do not have any validity period and thus, cannot be enforced,” he held. “Even if Section 19 (5) of the Copyright Act came into play, it would restrict the recording company from exercising their rights, over and above 5 years.”