In a significant development on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, the Madras High Court instructed veteran music composer R. Ilaiyaraaja to formally include Sony Music as a party in his civil lawsuit. This legal action was initiated by Ilaiyaraaja against the producers of the Ajith Kumar-led film Good Bad Ugly (GBU), alleging that three of his classic songs were used in the movie without his explicit permission.
Justice N. Senthilkumar emphasized the necessity of involving Sony Music, particularly after Mythri Movie Makers, the Telangana-based production house, asserted they had secured the rights for one of the contested songs, En Jodi Manja Kuruvi, from Sony Music. This particular track originated from the 1986 Kamal Haasan blockbuster Vikram.
Furthermore, the judge granted a petition from Music Master Audio Video LLP, which had acquired the rights to the song Otha Ruba Tharen from the producers of the 1996 film Nattupura Pattu, starring Sivakumar, approximately three decades ago. This acquisition, they argued, authorized its use in GBU.
Adding another layer to the case, legal representation for a separate music label informed the court of their intent to file an impleading petition. Their claim rests on possessing the rights to the third disputed song, Ilamai Idho Idho, featured in the 1982 Kamal Haasan film Sakalakala Vallavan.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for October 16 and extended its interim injunction, originally issued on September 9, 2025. This order continues to prohibit Mythri Movie Makers from displaying, screening, selling, distributing, publishing, or broadcasting GBU on any platform if it includes the three disputed songs.
Despite senior counsel P.V. Balasubramaniam, representing the production company, pushing for the injunction to be lifted, arguing that Mr. Ilaiyaraaja had not provided documentation proving he retained copyright for the songs, the musician’s advocate, A. Saravanan, vehemently opposed this request.
Ilaiyaraaja’s lawyer informed the court that while GBU was initially removed from Netflix following the interim injunction, it has since returned to the streaming platform with the controversial songs replaced. He asserted that this negated any urgent need to revoke the injunction.
Following arguments from all parties, the judge decided to revisit the case on October 16. He also asked all legal teams to provide recent rulings concerning music copyright. Justice Senthilkumar concluded with a poignant remark: “In the fight between all of you, the ultimate sufferers are the music lovers.”