In what comes as a victory for Ilaiyaraaja, the Madras High Court has now ruled that the musician holds rights over all his compositions. The Court was hearing a civil suit filed by the music composer in 2014 asking to restrain Malaysia-based music label Agi Music, Echo Recording, Giri Trading Company and a few others from monetising his songs without his permission.

Justice Anita Sumanth who was hearing two civil suits on Tuesday decreed Ilaiyaraaja’s suit while dismissing another filed by Agi Music in 2013 accusing the composer of having breached the terms of a 2007 agreement.

Speaking to TNM, Pradeep, Ilaiyaraaja’s advocate said, “The agreement did not mention time period and could only be considered for five years. The court has dismissed the 2013 petition and allowed us to go for collecting damages from 2012.”

As per the 2007 agreement, Ilaiyaraaja had reportedly assigned the copyright of his songs to his wife, who supposedly entered into a Sound Recording Licensing Agreement (SRLA) with the plaintiff company.

Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul (now a Supreme Court judge) and Justice TS Sivagnanam of the then first Division Bench had consolidated both 2013 and 2014 suits and ordered joint trial by a single judge of the court on August 18, 2015.

“Excepting theatrical rights, all other rights will rest with the composer. This is a milestone judgement with respect to the music industry,” added Pradeep.

In 2010, Ilaiyaraaja had filed a criminal complaint against Echo recording company for copyright violation. He had accused them of violating the copyrights of his songs and for not paying him royalty. While the Madras High Court dismissed the criminal proceedings in October 2018, Ilaiyaraaja maintained that his copyrights and patent case were still pending and that the ban on using his songs without permission was still valid.

“The stay was never revoked which itself was in our favour. Now the verdict proves it,” Pradeep said.