TN: Music mastero Ilaiyaraaja fights for musical ownership in Madras HC

Chennai, Nov 6 (IANS) Legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja on Thursday told the Madras High Court that film producers have no authority to sell or license his compositions to music labels or third parties without his explicit consent.

Appearing before Justice N. Senthilkumar, the composer’s counsel A. Saravanan argued that Ilaiyaraaja’s musical works remain his intellectual property and cannot be treated as the producers’ assets.

Saravanan contended that there was no employer-employee relationship between the composer and any film producer. The remuneration paid to him, he said, was meant to cover the costs of musicians, recording engineers, and technical staff, not as consideration for transferring ownership of his works.

“A cinematograph film is separate, and the musical work in it is separate. The producers can do whatever they want with the film as a whole, but they cannot sell the rights to the songs alone without my client’s consent,” he said.

The counsel emphasised that Ilaiyaraaja had never surrendered his rights to any of his songs and challenged music labels to produce documentation proving otherwise.

He also accused present users of his compositions of “distorting and mutilating” them by changing their original rhythm and beats to suit modern trends.

The submissions came during the hearing of an application filed by Telangana-based Mythri Movie Makers, producers of the Ajith Kumar-starrer Good Bad Ugly (GBU), seeking to vacate an interim injunction issued on September 8, 2025, that restrained them from using three of Ilaiyaraaja’s classic compositions — Otha Ruba Tharen from Nattupura Pattu (1996), Ilamai Idho Idho from Sakalakala Vallavan (1982), and En Jodi Manja Kuruvi from Vikram (1986).

Senior counsel P.V. Balasubramaniam, representing the production firm, argued that his client had lawfully obtained the rights to use those songs from different music labels, paying between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 40 lakh for each.

He said the firm was now suffering financially due to the injunction despite having acted in good faith.

Counsels representing the music labels claimed that they had secured the rights decades ago from leading studios such as AVM Productions, and that Ilaiyaraaja had not signed any agreement restricting those producers from selling the rights. They contended that if the composer had a grievance, it should be directed against the original film producers and not the labels or subsequent users.

In response, Saravanan insisted that anyone wishing to use Ilaiyaraaja’s songs must seek his direct permission.

“If others have been deceived into paying music labels without verifying their ownership, it is not my client’s problem,” he said. After hearing all sides, Justice Senthilkumar reserved orders on the plea to vacate the injunction.

--IANS

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