Illaiyaraaja cannot have sole ownership over his composed songs, says Madras High Court
File image of Ilaiyaraja
The Madras High Court made a strong statement on Wednesday and stated that veteran music composer Illaiyaraaja cannot claim sole ownership of the work that he has done in his career as numerous players come together to create a song. The veteran composer is in a legal tussle with recording company Echo Recording Pvt Ltd over the ownership of 4,500 songs.
According to a report on Live Law, the court stated that all commercial transactions that Ilaiyaraaja has entered with music streaming platforms will be dependent on the outcome of his appeal over ownership of the songs he has composed.
The court has argued that while Illaiyaraja may own the musical notes, the entirety of the song belongs to the producer as the composer receives payment for his work from the recording label. But Ilaiyaraaja's counsel countered that he continues to have rights to his songs irrespective of agreements with producers.
The website also reported that the court questioned whether Ilaiyaraaja could lay claim over the song, as the lyrics were penned by someone else. The judge pointed out that apart from the lyricist and composer, a singer also contributes to making a song. The court questioned what would happen if the lyricists also asked for ownership, stating that he could not be the sole owner of the songs. The matter was adjourned till June.
Ilaiyaraaja biopic
Earlier in March, it was announced that Arun Matheswaran will direct a biopicon Ilaiyaraaja, starring Dhanush in the titular role. The actor also launched the film poster in Chennai in the presence of Kamal Haasan and the composer.
The movie will chronicleIlaiyaraaja's life and career. The composer has had a career spanning over five decades and hascomposed over 7,000 songs for over 1,000 films and performed over 20,000 concerts across the globe.
The movie, which will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi, is backed by Connekkt Media, PK Prime Production and Mercuri Movies. Sriram Bakthisaran, C K Padma Kumar, Varun Mathur, Ilamparithy Gajendran and Saurabh Mishra are credited as producers.
