Previously, we reported that composer Ilaiyaraaja took legal action against the makers of Dude, directed by Keerthiswaran and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, for allegedly using two of his old songs in the film without permission. He approached the Madras High Court seeking the removal of two of his songs that were used in the film. Now, the Madras High Court has ordered that the songs composed by Ilaiyaraaja that were used in the film must be removed.
Two songs, namely, 'Karutha Machan' and 'Nooru Varusham', were used in the film without seeking Ilaiyaraaja's authorisation. The film's production company's request seeking seven days’ time to remove the songs has been rejected. The High Court observed that using Ilaiyaraaja’s songs in a manner that affects the sanctity of the compositions. The judge, Justice N Senthil Kumar, has now ordered the production company to respond to composer Ilayaraaja's petition and adjourned the case to January 7.
In a previous hearing of the case, appearing for Mythri Movie Makers, senior counsel P. V. Balasubramaniam refuted the copyright allegations. He argued that the production house had legitimately obtained the rights from Sony Music, which currently holds the copyright to both songs.
He further contended that Ilaiyaraaja composed the tracks before the amendments to the Copyright Act, 1957, and that under the earlier law, the film’s producer was deemed the first owner of the copyright. Those original producers, he noted, had subsequently assigned the rights to Sony Music.
This comes after the film's producers, Mythiri Movie Makers, were previously called to court after unauthorised usage of the veteran composer's songs in another of their outings, Good Bad Ugly, starring Ajith Kumar. The Adhik Ravichandran directorial, also starring Trisha, has the songs 'Oththa Roova' from the 1996 film Nattupura Pattu and 'Ilamai Idho Idho' from 1982's Sakalakala Vallavan. Subsequently, the court restrained Mythri Movie Makers from using his songs in the action-comedy film, leading to its temporary unavailability on Netflix. Subsequently, the film's makers replaced the songs with its background music on Netflix.