Supreme Court denies Ilaiyaraaja’s request to move Sony’s copyright case over 536 songs to Madras High Court. Dispute over music rights will continue in Bombay HC.
New Delhi: Today, on July 28, the Supreme Court of India has rejected a request by legendary music composer Ilaiyaraaja to shift a copyright-related case from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.
The case revolves around the ownership of rights to more than 536 musical compositions created by Ilaiyaraaja, who is known as one of India’s most iconic music directors, having composed over 7,500 songs for more than 1,500 films.
The transfer petition was filed by Ilaiyaraaja’s company, Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL), but was dismissed by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai, along with Justices Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria.
The legal dispute was originally initiated by Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd in 2022, which filed a suit in the Bombay High Court.
Sony claims to have legally obtained the rights to these 536 musical works from Oriental Records and Echo Recording, and has sought an injunction to stop Ilaiyaraaja’s company from using these works.
In response, Ilaiyaraaja’s company approached the Supreme Court, requesting that the case be transferred to the Madras High Court, arguing that the issues are already being heard there and that continuing in two different High Courts could cause legal confusion.
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IMMPL argued that out of the 536 songs mentioned in the Bombay case, 310 are already the subject of an ongoing legal case in the Madras High Court.
That case began in 2014 when Ilaiyaraaja sued Echo Recording, challenging their claim to his music and asserting his rights under the Copyright Act. In 2015, the Madras High Court granted interim relief in Ilaiyaraaja’s favour.
Later, in 2019, the court ruled that Echo Recording held the sound recording rights, but Ilaiyaraaja retained his “moral and special rights” over the music compositions.
The court also observed that the assignment of music rights to Agi Music by Ilaiyaraaja’s late wife, Jeevaraja, in 2007, had legally ended in 2012.
Following that 2019 decision, Echo Recording transferred its music catalogue to Oriental Records, which then entered into an agreement with Sony Music. Based on this chain of title, Sony filed the new case in the Bombay High Court in January 2022.
But Ilaiyaraaja’s company says that this case is a repeat of issues already being considered by the Madras High Court, where an appeal is currently pending and there is a stay order on the part of the 2019 judgment that recognised Echo’s rights.
IMMPL argued before the Supreme Court that since the case in Bombay was still in the beginning stages and the Madras case was already much more developed, it would make more sense to handle all related issues in one court.
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They also pointed out that IMMPL has no business presence in Mumbai and works only from Chennai.
According to IMMPL, allowing both courts to hear similar matters could result in
“conflicting judgments” and a “multiplicity of litigation.”
The legal team for IMMPL included Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocate Utsav Trivedi, Partner at TAS Law.
Background of the Case
The case stems from a long-standing copyright dispute involving renowned Indian music composer Ilaiyaraaja and Sony Music Entertainment India. The conflict centers around the ownership of rights to 536 musical works composed by Ilaiyaraaja.
In 2022, Sony Music filed a suit in the Bombay High Court, claiming that it had lawfully acquired the rights to these works from Oriental Records, which in turn had obtained them from Echo Recording.
Sony sought to prevent Ilaiyaraaja’s company, Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd (IMMPL), from using those compositions.
However, Ilaiyaraaja had earlier initiated legal proceedings in 2014 in the Madras High Court against Echo Recording, disputing their claim over his compositions and asserting his own moral and economic rights under Indian copyright law.
In 2015, he was granted interim relief, and in 2019, the Madras High Court held that while Echo retained the sound recording rights, Ilaiyaraaja continued to possess moral and special rights over the compositions.
The court also ruled that a prior rights assignment to Agi Music by Ilaiyaraaja’s late wife had expired in 2012.
Following the 2019 judgment, Echo assigned its catalogue to Oriental Records, which then entered into a deal with Sony. Based on this, Sony filed its suit in Bombay.
IMMPL contested this by filing a transfer petition in the Supreme Court, stating that many of the disputed works were already part of ongoing proceedings in Madras and raising concerns about duplicative litigation and the possibility of contradictory judgments.
Case Title:
Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd v. Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd
Case Number: Diary No. 2989/2025
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