The Delhi High Court has restrained Ilaiyaraaja from exploiting sound recordings and musical works owned by Saregama in 134 films. The Court held that allowing such use may cause irreparable loss to the music company and passed an interim injunction.
The Delhi High Court has passed an interim order stopping veteran music composer Ilaiyaraaja from using and commercially exploiting several sound recordings and musical works, the rights of which are claimed by music label Saregama.
In an ex parte ad interim order dated February 13, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela observed that Saregama could suffer serious and irreparable harm if the composer is not restrained immediately. The case relates to music from as many as 134 films, making it one of the significant copyright disputes in the Indian music industry in recent times.
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The Court clearly stated:
“Defendant [Ilaiyaraaja], its partners or proprietors, licensees, assigns, officers, servants, agents, representatives, contractors, sister concerns and any other person working for and on behalf of the defendant are restrained from exploiting/ using/ issuing licenses for the plaintiff’s Copyrighted Works i.e. the sound recordings and literary and musical works forming a part of the said Cinematograph Films enlisted in Annexure A appended to this Order or making any claim of ownership to the third parties or issuing any license for exploitation in relation to the plaintiff’s Copyrighted Works,”
the Court ordered.
This interim relief means that until further hearings, Ilaiyaraaja and anyone acting on his behalf cannot claim ownership or grant licenses for the disputed songs and recordings mentioned in the Court’s order.
The present dispute is part of an ongoing copyright battle between Saregama and Ilaiyaraaja. Earlier, in another case related to the popular Tamil song ‘En Iniya Pon Nilave’, the High Court had also ruled against the veteran composer. That case further strengthened Saregama’s position in the current proceedings.
In its fresh suit before the Delhi High Court, Saregama argued that between 1976 and 2001, it had entered into assignment agreements with producers of several cinematograph films. According to the company, these agreements transferred the copyright in the sound recordings as well as the underlying musical and literary works to Saregama on a worldwide and permanent basis.
Saregama informed the Court that in early February 2026, Ilaiyaraaja allegedly uploaded and allowed the use of many of these songs on digital platforms such as Amazon Music, iTunes and JioSaavn. The company also claimed that the composer asserted ownership over these works while authorising their use.
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The music label further pointed out that in January, Ilaiyaraaja had issued a legal notice claiming rights over musical works composed by him for various films, including the ones involved in the present case.
Relying on the Copyright Act, 1957 and judgments of the Supreme Court, Saregama argued that the producer of a cinematograph film is considered the first owner of copyright in works created for that film, unless there is a contract stating otherwise. On this basis, Saregama claimed that since it had valid assignment agreements from the producers, it became the lawful copyright holder of the works in question.
After considering the submissions, Justice Gedela found prima facie merit in Saregama’s claims and granted the interim injunction to prevent further alleged misuse of the copyrighted material. The Court noted that failure to restrain the composer at this stage could lead to irreparable loss and injury to the company.
Senior Advocate Chander M Lall, along with advocates Ankur Sangal, Ankit Arvind, Shashwat Rakshit, Rishabh Rao and Annanya Mehan, represented Saregama in the matter.
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The case highlights the growing legal complexities in India’s music and film industry, especially concerning copyright ownership, assignment agreements, and digital streaming rights. With music now widely distributed through online platforms, disputes over ownership and licensing have become more frequent and commercially significant.
The matter will now proceed further before the Delhi High Court, where detailed arguments from both sides are expected in the coming hearings.
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