The Madras High Court on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, ordered that any commercial transaction undertaken by music composer R. Ilaiyaraaja, with respect to around 4,500 film songs over which Echo Recording Private Limited has staked a claim, would be subject to the result of an appeal filed by the recording company.
The Second Division Bench of Justices R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq passed the interim order while adjourning the hearing of the original side appeal, preferred against a single judge’s 2019 order, recognising the composer’s special moral right over his compositions, to the second week of June.
Appearing on behalf of the appellant, senior counsel Vijay Narayan took the Division Bench through various provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957 and contended that a composer who had taken remuneration from a film producer for composing songs could not continue to claim any right over those songs.
