The Delhi High Court has allowed Vels Film International Limited to use a recreated version of the classic song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’ in its upcoming film Aghathiyaa but only under specific conditions. The court's decision comes after Saregama India Limited, the copyright holder of the Moodu Pani (1980) song, filed a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement.

While acknowledging the significant investment in recreating the song, the court necessitates Vels Film to deposit 30 lakh with its Registrar General to use the track. The court's recent order stated that preventing the song's use would cause "irreparable loss" to Vels Film, as it is already integrated into the film.

Saregama India argued that it holds the copyright to the song's lyrics and music through an agreement with Raja Cine Arts, which produced Moodu Pani. Saregama India stated that it discovered the recreated song in a teaser for Aghathiyaa on social media.

In its response to Saregama's legal notice, Vels Film claimed that it had obtained a license to "adapt, record/recreate" the song from the original composer. The court rejected this argument, stating that the music composer does not hold copyright over the lyrics or the sound recording and therefore cannot assign those rights to a third party. The court concluded that, according to Section 17 of the Copyright Act, the film's producer is the first owner of the copyright for sound recordings, literary works, and musical works within the film, unless otherwise contracted with the composer.

A Pa Vijay directorial, Aghathiyaa stars Jiiva, Arjun Sarja, Raashii Khanna, Edward Sonnenblick, Yogi Babu, VTV Ganesh, and Redin Kingsley.