A legal dispute has emerged between Zee Entertainment and Nykaa, a beauty and fashion retailer, highlighting how brands are using music on social media. Zee has accused Nykaa of using its songs without proper permission in promotional Instagram reels.
Zee Entertainment has filed a lawsuit in the Delhi High Court, seeking damages of $210,000, reported Reuters. The company claims that Nykaa used several of its copyrighted songs in Instagram reels to promote products to its large online audience.
According to court documents reviewed by Reuters, the case was filed on April 3. However, these documents are not publicly available.
Zee argued that it has a licencing agreement with Meta Platforms, which allows individuals to use its music in Instagram posts, but only for non-commercial purposes.
The company alleged that Nykaa crossed this line by using the songs in promotional content, which it considers a commercial use.
Both Zee and Nykaa declined to comment on the matter.
Short video formats like Instagram reels have become a popular marketing tool for brands. Many companies use trending songs to make their content more engaging and reach a wider audience.
In this case, Zee flagged 12 specific links where its songs were allegedly used.
During a brief hearing on Thursday, Nykaa’s lawyer told the court that the flagged links had already been taken down. This was noted in a court order.
The matter is not over yet. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for May 26.