Delhi High Court Raises Landmark Question on AI Copyright in ‘Teri Yaadon Ki Chadar Odhe’ Case: Can AI-Generated Songs Be Protected Under Indian Law?

In a potentially precedent-setting development in case Tarun Chaudhary & Anr. v. Kuldeep Meena & Ors., the Delhi High Court has raised fundamental questions on whether works generated using artificial intelligence can receive copyright protection under the Copyright Act, 1957. The issue arose in a commercial suit concerning the song “Teri Yaadon Ki Chadar Odhe”, which the plaintiffs admitted was created using the AI music platform SUNO AI. 

The plaintiffs claimed ownership after purchasing rights in the song and sought injunctions, takedowns, revenue disclosures, and damages against alleged infringers. However, during the hearing, the Court noted a core legal uncertainty: if the musical composition was generated through AI, what exactly is the copyrightable subject matter, and who is the author in law? 

Under Section 13 of the Copyright Act, copyright subsists in original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, sound recordings, and cinematograph films. The challenge is whether AI-generated compositions satisfy the requirement of originality and human authorship. Further, Section 2(d)(vi) states that in the case of a computer-generated work, the “author” is the person who causes the work to be created. This provision may become central in determining whether a user providing prompts to AI qualifies as an author.

The defendants reportedly relied on SUNO AI’s terms of service, which disclaim guarantees that copyright subsists in outputs. It was argued that if the original creator had no enforceable copyright, a later purchaser could not acquire stronger rights than the transferor possessed.

Recognising the novelty of the issue, the Court instructed the Registrar of Copyrights to assist on the legal position and declined immediate interim relief.

The implications are far-reaching. The eventual ruling may shape ownership claims over AI-generated music, films, artwork, software, and content created through prompt-based systems. It may also determine whether India adopts a human creativity standard, a prompt-author model, or a hybrid approach to AI authorship.

For law students and professionals, this case could become India’s first major judicial milestone on the intersection of copyright law, originality, authorship, and generative AI.