The Madras High Court has dismissed the application filed by producers of Good Bad Ugly seeking to vacate the interim order that restrains them from using three songs composed by veteran musician Ilaiyaraaja in the film. The application lacked merit, the Court found, and Justice N Senthilkumar held that Ilaiyaraaja has the right to protect his works from distortion or unauthorised use.
The underlying dispute stems from Ilaiyaraaja’s claim that the producers used the songs “Otha Rubayum Tharen” (from Nattupura Pattu), “Ilamai Idho Idho” (from Sakalakala Vallavan), and “En Jodi Manja Kuruvi” (from Vikram) without obtaining his explicit consent or paying the statutory royalties. He contended that not only were the songs exploited without permission, but they were also altered or adapted in a manner that violated his moral rights as composer. On September 8, 2025 the Court had granted an interim injunction preventing the producers from exhibiting, distributing, or broadcasting the motion picture with those compositions.
Mythri Movie Makers — the production house — challenged the injunction, asserting that they had obtained necessary permissions from the record labels which allegedly held the rights. They argued that because the songs were originally part of older films, the producers of those films, and by extension the labels, remained the rightful owners under the copyright regime in force at the time. The producers’ counsel contended that since the music was composed before amendments to the Copyright Act, the ownership vested with those earlier production houses or labels, and that appropriate licences had been acquired.
The High Court, however, was not persuaded by these submissions. The bench observed that the response to Ilaiyaraaja’s notice was a “bald” one, lacking any detailed evidence or documentation to confirm legitimate licensing. The Court’s view was that Ilaiyaraaja had sufficiently established a prima facie case of unauthorised use and distortion of his work, and that the balance of convenience favored protection of his rights. On that basis, the application to vacate the interim order was dismissed.
With this decision, the injunction remains in force, continuing to bar the exhibition, distribution, or online streaming of Good Bad Ugly in its present form containing the disputed songs. The ruling reinforces that regardless of the vintage of a work, composers retain moral and economic rights over their musical creations, and any attempt to use or modify such works without clear, documented permission can attract judicial intervention.
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