Ilaiyaraaja sends legal notice to makers of Ajith-starrer ‘Good Bad Ugly’ for using his songs without permission

Chennai: Well known Indian music composer Ilaiayaraaja has now sent a legal notice to Mythri Movie Makers, the production house which produced actor Ajith Kumar’s action entertainer ‘Good Bad Ugly’, seeking an apology and a compensation of Rs Five crore for using his songs in their film without acquiring his permission.

He has also sought the removal of the distorted versions of his songs in the film.

Ilaiayaraaja’s lawyer Saravanan Annadurai, while talking to a news channel on the issue, said, “We have sent a notice to Mythri Movie Makers who have made this movie. They have used three songs — ‘Otha Rubai Tharen’, ‘Ilamai Idho Idho’ and ‘En Jodi Manja kurvi’– of music director Ilaiyaraaja in their film without getting his permission. Therefore, we have asked that they pay compensation.”

Going on to give details of the notice, the lawyer said, “Our copyright act, the Indian Copyright Act, is very clear that the rights of creators are protected. It is clear that nobody should violate these rights. The laws are there to ensure that a creator’s rights aren’t breached by any entity, looking to profit from doing so. It is on the basis of these laws that we have now sent a notice to the production house.”

The lawyer went on to say, “One other important aspect is that these songs haven’t been used as they were created. They have been distorted. When a creator’s works are distorted, the creator has a moral right to question that distortion. The law clearly says that distortion should not be allowed.”

Stating that they had sent the notice to the production house for two reasons, the lawyer said that the first reason was that the makers had, without proper prior permission, used Ilaiyaraaja’s copyrighted songs and two, they had distorted his works.

The lawyer said they they had sought a compensation of Rs Five crore and also sought that the distorted versions be removed from the film. They also said that they had demanded a public apology from the makers.

IANS