Ilaiyaraaja Settles Dispute With Production Company After It Agrees To Pay Him ₹50 Lakh Over Usage Of Songs In Movies

Appearing before Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, the parties informed the court that they had entered into negotiations and concluded a settlement. The parties also filed a joint memo of compromise, which was digitally signed by Ilaiyaraaja and representative of Mythri Movie Makers.
As per the terms of settlement, the production house has paid Rs. 50,00,000 to the musician, after deducting a TDS of 10%by way of RTGS. The parties have agreed that upon receipt of the money, the production company will be permitted to continue using the songs in “Dude” movie. With respect to the songs in the “Good Bad Ugly” movie, the production company agreed to desist from using the songs.
Noting the settlement, the court decreed the suit as per the terms of the compromise memo.
“On examining the joint memorandum of compromise, I find no legal impediment for decreeing the suit in terms thereof. Accordingly, C.S.(Comm.Div.) No.299 of 2025 is decreed in terms of joint memorandum of compromise dated 28.11.2025, which shall form an integral part thereof. On account of the compromise, each party shall bear his own costs. Consequently, O.A.No.1103 of 2025 is closed,” the court said.
It may be noted that on November 26, Ilaiyaraaja had approached the court seeking to restrain the producers of the Dude movie from using his copyrighted works unauthorizedly and a mandatory injunction asking them to remove such infringing content from the movie. Ilaiyaraaja has also sought disclosure of profits and gains received by the production house from the unauthorised exploitation of his copyrighted works.
Ilaiyaraaja had argued that two of his songs, "Nooru Varsham" and "Karutha Machan" were being used in the new movie without getting his authorisation. He argued that the producers had altered, mutilated, and distorted the original work and had used it in the movie, causing harm to the creator, ie, Ilaiyaraaja.
It was argued that Ilaiyaraaja's moral rights under Section 57 were being affected by the conduct of the production company. Relying on Section 19(9) and Section 19(10) of the Copyright Act, Ilayaraja claimed that as the composer of the songs, he was entitled to receive royalties for their use across any medium. However, despite the statutory protection, his works were violated.
On the other hand, Senior Advocate PV Balasubramaniam, appearing for the production company, submitted that the question was whether Ilaiyaraaja continued to remain the author of the works, since the music was produced before the amendment of the Copyright Act.
Balasubramaniam submitted that since all the music in question was composed before the amendment of the Copyright Act, the producer of the movies continued to be its author. He submitted that the producer of the concerned movies had sold the rights of the songs to Sony Music, which then gave them to the production company. He thus submitted that the production company had used the songs in the new movie after entering into the necessary agreements.
On November 28, the court granted an interim injunction in favour of Ilaiyaraaja, temporarily restraining the makers from using his songs.
It may also be noted that on September 8, the court had temporarily restrained the production company from using three of Ilaiyaraaja's songs in the Ajith-starrer movie, “Good Bad Ugly”. Though the production company had filed an application seeking to vacate the interim order, the court dismissed the same, noting that Ilaiyaraaja was entitled to protect his works.
Counsel for Plaintiff: Mr. K. Thyagarajan
Counsel for Defendant: Mr. Rahul Balakrishnan
Case Title: Dr. Ilaiyaraaja v Mythri Movie Makers
Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 466
Case No: C.S.(Comm.Div.) No.299 of 2025 and O.A.No.1103 of 2025