Supreme Court denies musician Ilaiyaraaja’s plea to move copyright case to Madras HC

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition by renowned music composer Ilaiyaraaja seeking to transfer a copyright dispute, concerning over 500 of his compositions, from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.

A bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai, along with Justices K Vinod Chandran and N V Anjaria, rejected arguments by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who represented Ilaiyaraaja and urged the transfer, PTI reported.

At the start of the hearing, counsel for Sony Music Entertainment informed the bench that the company had initiated the case in the Bombay High Court, and at that time, no similar case was pending in the Madras High Court.

“The plea is dismissed,” the bench said.

The legal case started from a lawsuit initiated by Sony Music Entertainment India in 2022 before the Bombay High Court. Sony has sought an injunction to restrain Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL) from using 536 musical works.

The company claims it acquired the rights to these works through Oriental Records and Echo Recording, the entity with which Ilaiyaraaja has long been embroiled in litigation.

The IMMPL, however, alleged that 310 of the 536 disputed works are already under judicial scrutiny in a parallel case before the Madras High Court.

That case, originally filed by Ilaiyaraaja in 2014 against Echo Recording, challenges the latter’s claim over his compositions and seeks recognition of the composer’s moral and economic rights under the Copyright Act.

Also Read: The reflected glory of Ilaiyaraaja

The 2014 Madras suit led to a significant 2019 judgment, which upheld Ilaiyaraaja’s moral and special rights as a composer.

Ilaiyaraaja is one of India’s most prolific composers with over 7,500 songs across 1,500 films.

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