Raman Negi Files Suit Against The Local Train Over Copyright and Royalties

Raman Negi, founding member and former frontman of rock band The Local Train, has filed a commercial suit at the Delhi High Court against his former bandmates over alleged copyright infringement, denial of royalties, and unlawful appropriation of trademarks.

The case, which seeks protection and enforcement of Negi’s statutory rights under the Copyright Act of 1957, was briefly heard by Justice Tejas Karia and will now be taken up in March 2026, Bar and Bench reports.

According to the suit, Negi conceived, authored, and composed several original songs even before The Local Train was formed and continued to be the principal creative force during his time with the band. He claims sole authorship of lyrics for 15 songs released as part of the albums Aalas Ka Pedh (2015) and Vaaqif (2018), and sole composition credit for five songs, including “Choo Lo,” “Aaoge Tum Kabhi,” and “Kaisey Jiyun.” Other musical compositions were reportedly jointly authored by Negi along with one of the defendants or an erstwhile band member, with his authorship and creative contributions consistently acknowledged within the band through documents, communications, and public statements.

In his filing, Negi has categorized the works into three groups: independently owned literary works and select musical compositions where he claims 100 percent ownership; jointly authored musical compositions where he claims an undivided 50 percent share; and jointly produced sound recordings and audio-visual works where he asserts not less than a one-fourth share.

Negi has asserted that he never executed any written assignment or waiver of his copyright, performer’s rights, or moral rights in favor of the defendants, as required under the Copyright Act. His decision to exit the band was communicated in December 2021, subject to settlement of accounts and completion of exit formalities, which allegedly never took place despite repeated follow-ups.

The suit alleges that the defendants failed to reconcile royalties, provide financial disclosures, or execute a lawful retirement deed. During this period, they allegedly continued to commercially exploit Negi’s copyrighted works across digital platforms, withheld royalty information and revenues, and shifted funds without transparency. Negi says that in August 2022, while his exit was still incomplete, one of the defendants filed trademark applications in their exclusive names without his knowledge or consent, allegedly seeking to unlawfully appropriate goodwill generated primarily through his creative contributions.

After rejecting the retirement deed that sought to deprive him of all present and future royalty and proprietary rights, Negi issued a legal notice in December 2024 demanding work-wise and source-wise revenue details. The defendants allegedly refused to acknowledge his rights or provide the requested disclosures. Following failed negotiations, Negi initiated pre-litigation mediation before the Delhi High Court Mediation and Conciliation Centre in March 2025. The mediation proceedings were eventually closed as “not settled” in September 2025, following which he instituted the present suit.

The suit seeks declarations of ownership across all categories of works, permanent injunctions restraining infringement and unauthorized exploitation, rendition of accounts, payment of royalties and revenues due, reliefs against allegedly illegal trademark registrations, as well as damages, interest, and costs.

The Local Train and Raman Negi parted ways around early 2022. Since then, Negi has gone on to release two albums—Shakhsiyat in 2022 and Chaltey Purzay in 2024. The Local Train’s Ramit Mehra, Sahil Sarin, and Paras Thakur have been working on a new album and dropped the song “Tu Hai Kahaan” with veteran pop artist Lucky Ali for the movie Do Aur Do Pyaar in 2024.