Madras HC reserves orders on Ilaiyaraaja's copyright plea against 'Dude' movie producers

Chennai, Nov 26 The Madras High Court on Wednesday reserved its orders on a petition filed by legendary music composer R. Ilaiyaraaja seeking to restrain Hyderabad-based Mythri Movie Makers from broadcasting, streaming, or exhibiting the Tamil film "Dude" on any platform, including OTT services, for allegedly using two of his iconic songs without authorisation.

The petition pertains to the songs "Nooru Varusham" and "Karutha Machan", composed by Ilaiyaraaja several decades ago for earlier Tamil films.

The composer has filed a civil suit seeking both a permanent injunction and a mandatory injunction directing the production house to remove all allegedly unauthorised content in "Dude" and disclose profits earned through what he terms "wrongful exploitation" of his copyrighted works.

Senior counsel S. Prabakaran, appearing for Ilaiyaraaja, argued that Mythri Movie Makers had repeatedly incorporated songs composed by his client in their films without seeking prior permission.

He pointed out that the same production house had previously used four Ilaiyaraaja compositions in "Good Bad Ugly" (GBU), starring Ajith Kumar, prompting the composer to secure an interim injunction in that case as well.

Despite this earlier legal action, the counsel said, the production house used two other Ilaiyaraaja songs in "Dude", starring Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju, compelling the composer to approach the court once again.

Justice N. Senthilkumar, who heard the arguments, remarked in a lighter tone that the trend of reusing old film songs in new productions seemed to be gaining momentum, resulting in frequent copyright infringement claims.

Asked whether such reuse did not increase the popularity of the original compositions, the senior counsel asserted that the issue was not popularity but "mutilation" of the songs and unauthorised commercial gain.

He stressed the urgency of interim relief, noting that although "Dude" had completed its theatrical run, it continued to stream on an OTT platform featuring Ilaiyaraaja’s songs.

Appearing for Mythri Movie Makers, senior counsel P.V. Balasubramaniam countered the claims, stating that the production house had legitimately obtained the rights from Sony Music, which currently holds the copyright to both songs. He pointed out that Ilaiyaraaja composed these songs before amendments were introduced to the Copyright Act, 1957, and under the pre-amendment regime, the film producer -- rather than the composer -- was the first owner of the copyright.

Those original producers, he said, had subsequently transferred the rights to Sony Music.

When a lawyer representing Sony Music attempted to present arguments, the judge declined to hear him, stating that the music label was not a party to the suit and could not be entertained in the proceedings.

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