Back To Back Legal Setbacks For Music Maestro

Legendary music composer IIaiyaraaja, who has been at the centre of several copyright disputes with singers, filmmakers and music labels over recreation of his iconic songs, has now faced back to back legal setbacks after the Supreme Court refused to interfere in the orders passed by Delhi High Court against his lawsuits.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran dismissed his special leave petition filed against the Delhi HC order. This decision brought a huge relief for Saregama music label regarding full copyright control of classic tracks.

This controversy kicked off after production house Vels Film International recreated his popular song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’ for their upcoming movie project called Aghathiyaa after getting license directly from maestro Ilaiyaraaja.

However, the music company strongly objected to this stating they hold full official ownership rights assigned by original film producers. The Delhi High Court earlier gave order that Ilaiyaraaja only holds copyright on the musical tune work but not on full sound recording or written lyrics.

The high court stopped the film production team from releasing or using the recreated song version without proper license from Saregama. So, Ilaiyaraaja then filed review petitions in the High Court. But, he didn’t get any relief as the division bench also struck down his petitions.

Later, he approached the Supreme Court to reverse the lower court’s orders. But the apex court refused to enter into the matter and upheld the Delhi High Court ruling completely.

Interestingly, these orders will now set a strong legal precedent for future cases whenever music companies and composers fight for copyright infringement of songs and tunes. Music production companies now hold stronger control over old music recordings compared to individual music directors.