Madras High Court Bars Use of Ilaiyaraaja Songs In Pradeep Ranganathan's 'Dude'

The Madras High Court, on November 28, restrained popular production house Mythri Movie Makers from continuing to retain songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja in their latest Tamil film, Dude, starring Pradeep Ranganathan and Mamitha Baiju, reported The Hindu. The hit Tamil film featured two such songs, ‘Nooru Varusham’ from the 1990 film Panakkaran and ‘Karutha Machan’ from the 1991 film Pudhu Nellu Pudhu Naathu.

According to the publication, the musician, in his civil suit, "had made out a prima facie case of his songs having been mutilated and distorted, thereby causing damage to his reputation and therefore, the balance of convenience was in favour of granting an interim injunction, as sought for by him, until further orders could be passed on the civil suit."

P.V. Balasubramaniam, representing Mythri Movie Makers, reportedly urged the judge to grant them around seven days to comply with the interim injunction order. However, the report added that Justice Senthilkumar refused to accept the submission and expressed that no such time could be granted in the prima facie case for the grant of an injunction. The counsel representing Ilaiyaraaja added that "Mythri Movie Makers was in the habit of using the songs composed by the plaintiff in its movies without seeking the musician’s permission," according to the report. The composer raised an issue about the use of his work in Ajith Kumar's Good Bad Ugly, which the banner produced.

In related news, the Madras High Court had recently passed an interim order in favour of protecting legendary composer Ilaiyaraaja’s personality rights, temporarily prohibiting the use of his name, likeness and other media on social media platforms and digital channels. The push for protecting the personality rights of artists and public figures has gained momentum in the age of deepfakes and generative AI, with several notable celebrities in India approaching the courts to secure their name, likeness and voice.

Ilaiyaara’s counsel, Senior Advocate S. Prabakaran, argued that several media outlets and YouTube channels were misappropriating and fabricating the musician’s identity for commercial gain. The counsel produced multiple screenshots to support the claim, reports stated.