Delhi High Court Rules Ilaiyaraaja Cannot License Songs From 134 Films Pending Saregama Copyright Suit
Riya Rathore
1 July 2026 11:08 AM IST
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday made absolute an ad interim injunction restraining composer Ilaiyaraaja from exploiting or licensing music composed for 134 films in a copyright suit filed by Saregama India Limited, claiming ownership over the works.
The list includes iconic films such as 'Pallavi Anu Pallavi', '16 Vayathiniley', 'Mullum Malarum', 'Nizhalgal' and 'Moodu', all bearing Ilaiyaraaja's compositions.
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela delivered the ruling today, which upheld the ex-parte ad-interim injunction already operating against Ilaiyaraaja.
Saregama, formerly The Gramophone Company of India Limited, claims to hold the copyright in sound recordings and the underlying literary and musical works from 134 films released between 1976 and 2007, by virtue of assignment agreements executed with the original film producers.
The suit, filed in February 2026, was prompted by Saregama discovering that Ilaiyaraaja had uploaded songs from these films on platforms such as Amazon Music, iTunes and JioSaavan while also asserting ownership over the content.
He had also, on January 13, 2026, issued a legal notice claiming rights over all musical works composed, arranged, and orchestrated by him across his film career.
Saregama contends that under Section 17(b) of the Copyright Act, 1957, when a film producer commissions a composer to create music for valuable consideration, the producer becomes the first owner of the copyright in those musical works. It argues that the producers subsequently assigned those copyrights to Saregama, making it the current owner.
The court, while granting the ex-parte injunction in February, relied on the Supreme Court's 1977 ruling in Indian Performing Right Society Ltd. v. Eastern Indian Motion Pictures Association, which had categorically held that a music composer or lyricist commissioned by a film producer does not retain any copyright in the work, unless there is a specific contract to the contrary.