In a notable development, Zee Entertainment has approached the Delhi Court with a copyright infringement suit against FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited & Anr (Nykaa), the popular fashion and beauty retailer in India, seeking damages up to 2 crores for the alleged usage of its copyrighted songs on Nykaa’s Instagram Reels. This is not the first time that music companies have taken others to court by alleging that they have used copyrighted music for the promotion of their products on Instagram, without a license. In fact, Zee Entertainment recently filed a similar infringement suit against JioStar, alleging that JioStar used songs from Zee’s music library on its streaming platform and television channels after the license agreement between them expired. This matter is also pending before the Hon’ble Delhi Court.
Zee’s primary contention against Nykaa is that its licensing agreement with Meta permits only personal, non‑commercial use of Zee’s music catalogue on Instagram, and that Nykaa’s incorporation of the songs into promotional and advertising content exceeded those licence terms. Nykaa has already removed the flagged reels from their Instagram handle, however, the same does not relieve them from the liability of infringement.
Meta (parent company of Instagram and Facebook) provides access to over 14,000 songs which are safe to use in Instagram Reels and Stories and are royalty-free. However, as per their music guidelines on Instagram, “The music available in our library is intended for personal, non-commercial use.” On Facebook, the guidelines emphasise that “Use of music for commercial or non-personal purposes in particular is prohibited unless you have obtained appropriate licences.”
Meta also mentions that they are obligated to uphold their agreements with the rights holders of the music that is available in their licensed music library. These agreements are designed to protect artists, songwriters, and their works. This means that additional permission from the owner ought to be sought if the purpose of using the music is commercial.
It is interesting to note that Meta’s algorithm actively encourages users to use the current trending music for greater reach, despite the fact that it often warns users that songs may not be used for commercial purposes. This angle becomes more interesting when it involves influencer content. As long as an influencer uses a music track for their personal reel, it falls within the guidelines of Meta. However, the moment they enter into a paid partnership with a brand and upload a video with the same music, it becomes commercial.
Now coming to the Copyrights Act, according to Section 2 (xx), “sound recording” means a recording of sounds from which such sounds may be produced regardless of the medium on which such recording is made or the method by which the sounds are produced.
Here, Zee Entertainment are the rights holder over the sound recordings and according to Section 14 (e) (iii) of the Act, they have the exclusive right to communicate the sound recording to the public, which also includes the digital medium such as an Instagram reel. As Nykaa’s intention was to use popular songs on their reels to increase traction for their products and reach a wider audience, they cannot claim that their act falls under fair dealing under Section 52 of the Act. Indian courts have also consistently held that the use of music for commercial advertising does not qualify as fair dealing.
The current development is that Nykaa has requested the Hon’ble Court to include Meta as a party to the matter, arguing that the latter would be able to clarify whether there has been an actual breach of license terms. Zee maintains that their current licensing agreement with Meta only allows non-commercial use and that a separate license is required for commercial use. Nykaa has also requested that the matter be referred for mediation. The matter is next posted for hearing on July 31, 2026. The addition of Meta as a party to the case would be interesting, as their Instagram music guidelines state that certain business accounts and certain types of posts do not have access to their music library to ensure that the songs would not be used for commercial purposes. The fact that Nykaa was able to add songs to 12 of its Instagram reels raises questions about the effectiveness of the steps taken by Meta to ‘restrict’ access.
With the rapid advancement of the influencer culture and short video formats for promotion and advertising through digital platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, etc, more copyright owners are becoming vigilant about enforcing their rights. Similar disputes have arisen globally as well, for instance, Warner Music v. Iconic London (US) and Sony Music v. SUVA Beauty (Canada). The outcome of these cases may help draw a clear boundary between commercial and non-commercial usage of music, a distinction that brands should be mindful about.
Written by
Shwetha S Menon
