The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja seeking to transfer a copyright dispute from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.
The rights to 536 musical pieces by Ilaiyaraaja are said to be in the domain of Sony Music, following assignments by Echo Recording and Oriental Records in the specified period. In 2022, Sony Music approached the Bombay High Court for a restraining order against Ilaiyaraaja’s company, Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL), from abusing these works.
It was said by IMMPL in its defence that 310 of the aforesaid compositions are already subject matter in proceedings before the Madras High Court, consequent to a suit instituted in 2014 by Ilaiyaraaja against Echo Recording.
In that case, the Madras High Court had ruled in 2019 that while Echo retained sound recording rights, Ilaiyaraaja held moral and special rights over the compositions. The matter is still under appeal.
IMMPL sought the transfer on grounds of overlapping issues, risk of conflicting judgments, and judicial economy. It also pointed out that Sony’s Bombay suit is still at an early stage, while the Madras case is significantly advanced. Additionally, IMMPL highlighted that it operates only from Chennai and has no business in Mumbai.
However, the Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justices Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria rejected the plea, allowing the Bombay High Court proceedings to continue, as per Bar and Bench.
IMMPL was represented by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocate Utsav Trivedi of TAS Law. The ruling means the copyright battle over Ilaiyaraaja’s iconic compositions will now proceed in both High Courts.
