Ilaiyaraaja vs 'Good Bad Ugly': Who owns the rights? Court drama deepens

The case related to the film 'Good Bad Ugly', in which the producers were accused of using composer Ilayaraja's songs without permission, came up for hearing again in the Madras High Court. Ilaiyaraaja had filed a petition on his behalf, alleging that his compositions 'Ilamai Itho Itho', 'Otha Rupayum Tharen', and 'En Jodi Manja Kuruvi' were featured in the film starring Ajith Kumar. The court earlier imposed an interim injunction and ordered that the songs should not be used. Against this, the film's production company, Maithri Movie Makers, filed a petition to lift the injunction. As per News 18, the case came up for hearing before Justice Senthil Kumar recently. Advocate Balasubramaniam, appearing for the production company, said, “We used the songs featured in the film 'Good Bad Ugly' under license from Sony. Now all those songs have been removed from the film." He also emphasized that they cannot be accused of using the songs.However, Saravanan, the lawyer representing Ilaiyaraaja, said, “It is not clear from whom Sony obtained permission and licensed the songs. How can Sony handle the personal rights of composer Ilaiyaraaja? We were not informed of the details of the contract.”. He insisted that Sony should explain the legality of granting such permission.After considering the arguments of both sides, the judge ordered the Ilaiyaraaja side to file a petition with Sony in this case. He also adjourned the next stage of the investigation to October 16. The 'Good Bad Ugly' copyright case has further stirred up the rights issue between Ilaiyaraaja and Sony. Meanwhile, Ajith's 'Good Bad Ugly', which was removed from the OTT platform after Ilaiyaraaja's petition, is back on the digital platform. But Ilaiyaraaja's songs used in the film have now been muted.Disclaimer: This report is based on ongoing court proceedings and statements from the parties involved; the outcome of the 'Good Bad Ugly' copyright case has not yet been determined.