Ilaiyaraaja Loses Copyright Battle Over Iconic Song

The Delhi High Court has definitively ruled that music composer Ilaiyaraaja does not own the copyright for the lyrics or the original sound recording of the popular Tamil song 'En Iniya Pon Nilave.' This ruling came as a dismissal of Ilaiyaraaja's appeal concerning a dispute over a recreated version of the song for the 2025 film 'Aghathiyaa.'

The court clarified that while a composer holds rights to the musical composition, the ownership of the lyrics and the final sound recording vests with the film producer. In this case, the rights were legally transferred from the original producer, Raja Cine Arts, to Saregama India Limited in 1980.

The legal proceedings were initiated by Saregama in January 2025 against Vels Films International over the planned recreated track. Vels Films had initially argued for permission from Ilaiyaraaja, believing he had the authority to license the song's adaptation. However, the High Court upheld a previous single-judge bench's observation that Ilaiyaraaja, being the composer of the tune but not the lyricist, could not claim rights over the lyrics or the complete sound recording.

Amendments to India's Copyright Act in 2012 were also deemed not applicable retrospectively. The film's production house ultimately decided to release 'Aghathiyaa' without the recreated song after being unable to deposit a required license fee of Rs 30 lakh.