The Madras high court on 4th June prohibited commercial exploitation of film and devotional songs composed by Ilaiyaraja in any form, including TV reality shows, ticketed music concerts and online as well as radio channels without his permission.
Justice Anita Sumanth confirmed the interim order prohibiting unauthorised exploitation of his copyright, and said that songs composed by Ilaiyaraja could not be exploited or monetised in any manner without prior permission from him. However, the judge excluded/exempted film songs composed by him, which are released/screened in the cinemas.The judge was passing orders on two suits – one filed by music label Agi Music, and the other by Ilaiyaraja.
In 2013, Agi Music took Ilaiyaraja to court, saying that the assignment of rights made by his wife (since deceased) in 2007 was valid for 10 years. According to the music director, the rights should be considered as having been granted only for five years as per the Copyright Act as the contract/assignment had no mention of the number of years. Justice Sumanth dismissed the suit by Agi Music, paving the way for Ilaiyaraja to claim damages from 2012 onwards.
In 2014, the music composer had filed a second civil suit against Echo Recording and others, seeking injunction against them from using his music and songs for commercial purposes without his prior permission. The injunction granted then was now made permanent by Justice Anita Sumanth. In his suit, Ilaiyaraja claimed that he had composed music for over 7,000 songs. He accused the music labels of monetising his compositions without his permission, thereby indulging in copyright infringement.