7 months ago
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The Madras High Court, connected Friday (November 28, 2025), restrained Hyderabad-based Mythri Movie Makers from continuing to grounds the Tamil movie Dude, starring Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju, on with the songs ‘Nooru Varusham’ and ‘Karutha Machan’ that were composed by acclaimed instrumentalist R. Ilaiyaraaja for different movies successful the past.
Justice N. Senthilkumar said, the musician, successful his civilian suit, had made retired a prima facie lawsuit of his songs having been mutilated and distorted thereby causing harm to his estimation and therefore, the equilibrium of convenience was successful favour of granting an interim injunction, arsenic sought for by him, until further orders could beryllium passed connected the civilian suit.
After the justice pronounced his orders, that were reserved connected Wednesday (November 26, 2025), elder counsel P.V. Balasubramaniam, representing Mythri Movie Makers, urged the justice to assistance 7 days’ clip for the accumulation steadfast to comply with the interim injunction order. The counsel said the steadfast would necessitate sometime to instrumentality down the 2 songs.
Pointing retired the movie was present being exhibited connected an OTT platform, aft completing its theaterical run, the elder counsel said, the accumulation steadfast would look the menace of having committed contempt of tribunal if it does not comply with the interim injunction bid forthwith. He urged the tribunal to assistance conscionable a week’s clip for the accumulation steadfast to region the songs.
However, Justice Senthilkumar refused to judge the submission and said, nary specified clip could beryllium granted erstwhile the plaintiff had made retired a prima facie lawsuit for assistance of injunction. He said, the tribunal bid would person to beryllium complied with fortwith particularly erstwhile it had been demonstrated earlier the tribunal that the 2 songs had been mutilated and distorted without the plaintiff’s consent.
In his civilian suit, Mr. Ilaiyaraaja had sought a imperishable injunction and a mandatory injunction directing the accumulation location to instantly instrumentality down each unauthorised contented related to his copyright works from the movie Dude and besides disclose the profits derived truthful acold by wrongful exploitation of the 2 songs, which helium had composed agelong back, successful the caller movie.
Senior counsel S. Prabakaran, representing the composer, had argued the suspect Mythri Movie Makers was successful the wont of utilizing the songs composed by the plaintiff successful its movies without seeking the musician’s permission. He said, the aforesaid accumulation location had utilized 4 of his client’s songs successful Ajith Kumar-starrer Good Bad Ugly (GBU) forcing his lawsuit to get an interim injunction against that movie too.
He said the accumulation location had erstwhile again utilized 2 different songs of Mr. Ilaiyaraaja successful its latest movie Dude without obtaining his explicit permission. Countering the submissions, Mr. Balasubramaniam had told the tribunal that his lawsuit had obtained the rights for utilizing those 2 songs from fashionable euphony statement Sony Music, which was present holding the copyright for some the songs.
Stating Mr. Ilaiyarajaa had composed those 2 songs earlier definite amendments were made to the Copyright Act of 1957, helium said, arsenic per the pre-amended provisions, the archetypal proprietor of the copyright was lone the shaper of the movies for which Mr. Ilaiyaraaja had composed the 2 songs, ‘Nooru Varusham’ and ‘Karutha Machan’, and those producers had sold the rights to Sony Music.
