8 months ago
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The Madras High Court connected Friday (September 26, 2025) directed Sony Music Entertainment India Private Limited to furnish, by October 22, the connection of accounts listing the gross earned by it done the “commercial exploitation” of the songs composed by acclaimed instrumentalist R. Ilaiyaraaja.
Justice N. Senthilkumar issued the absorption pursuant to a caller civilian suit filed by the instrumentalist against Sony Music, Echo Recording Company Private Limited, and New Jersey-based Oriental Records, alleging unauthorised commercialized exploitation of his compositions.
While elder counsel S. Prabakaran argued the substance connected behalf of the composer, elder counsel Vijay Narayan represented Sony Music. In his affidavit, Mr. Ilaiyaraaja said, helium was reverred arsenic Isaignani (musical genius) and maestro of music, reflecting his unparalleled stature successful the satellite of euphony globally.
“I americium an eminent Indian creator, euphony composer, conductor, arranger, lyricist, and playback singer, whose multifaceted contributions person profoundly shaped Tamilian, Indian, and planetary euphony landscape.... My vocation is distinguished by a prodigious and genuinely unparalleled assemblage of enactment successful planetary euphony history,” helium said.
Claiming to person followed an autonomous attack to creation of movie songs each done his career, the composer said: “I singularly conceive, develop, and execute my compositions with afloat originative independence, without outer interference oregon prescribed instructions.”
He besides said: “As such, my narration with movie producers and originative collaborators has ever been connected a principal-to-principal ground and ne'er arsenic an worker oregon nether a ‘work for hire’ arrangement... I person consistently asserted and exercised my authorship and ownership implicit my archetypal compositions.”
Stating that Echo Recording had been fixed the licence to merchantability lone audio tapes (cassettes) and compact discs (CDs) containing his songs, Mr. Ilaiyaraaja said, Sony Music could not beryllium allowed to exploit those songs done different integer media by claiming to person acquired the rights that were erstwhile held by Echo Recording.
The composer besides doubted the authenticity of the documents done which Echo Recording had reportedly signed an duty statement successful favour of Oriental Records connected February 2, 2020; wrong 12 days thereafter, Sony Music had entered into a catalogue acquisition statement with Oriental connected February 14, 2020.
He besides accused Sony Music of distorting his compositions by remastering them and past promoting them connected its societal media handles arsenic good arsenic different integer media. Since a composer would ever person a motivation close implicit his compositions, specified distortions could not beryllium permitted astatine all, helium argued.
On the different hand, Mr. Narayan brought to the announcement of Justice Senthilkumar that 2 cases connected the aforesaid contented were already pending earlier a Division Bench of the Madras High Court and earlier the Bombay High Court, wherever the proceeding was astatine an precocious signifier and owed to beryllium heard adjacent connected October 16.
The elder counsel said, Mr. Ilaiyaraaja had failed successful his effort to get Sony Music’s suit transferred from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court and therefore, helium has present chosen to record a caller suit with an identical prayer, which the euphony statement had sought from the Bombay High Court.
Mr. Narayan sought clip to record a elaborate antagonistic affidavit to Mr. Ilaiyaraaja’s caller case. The justice accepted his plea and directed the euphony institution to record a connection of accounts during the adjacent proceeding of the lawsuit connected October 22.
