Under Section 31C(1) of the Copyright Act, 1957, any person desirous of making a cover version may do so:

Section 31C(1) lets any person make a cover version and says he may do so "subject to the provisions" of that section. It is a statutory licence, so no assignment and no case-by-case licence from a court is needed, but the notice, advance royalty and other conditions of the section must be met.