Bombay High Court: Perpetual Copyright Assignment Includes Digital Rights

The Bombay High Court upheld that perpetual copyright assignments include digital platforms and non-physical mediums, even if such technologies were not contemplated at the time of signing. 

The Court held that a 1967 perpetual assignment of the song “Meri Duniya Hai Maa Tere Aanchal Mein” to Saregama covers all current and future media, including digital platforms.

Justice Manish Pitale clarified that expressions like “any and every means whatsoever” encompass digital exploitation, and amendments to Section 18 of the Copyright Act (1994, 2012) do not retroactively affect such agreements.

The court dismissed Rupali Shah’s plea, affirming that economic rights once validly assigned remain enforceable across all present and future platforms.