Veteran composer and MP, Dr. Ilaiyaraaja has accused major music labels of exploiting his works without consent, as his copyright battle with Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd intensifies. The legendary musician, told the Madras High Court on October 22, 2025 (Wednesday) that he feels “cheated” by music companies continuing to use, remix, and profit from his songs without proper authorization or royalty payments.

“I may be a famous music composer. But I'm being cheated by these music companies. They are continuing to use my songs without any authorization. They're distorting it, adding beats to it,” - Ilaiyaraaja through his counsel Prabakaran to the Madras High Court on October 22, 2025

Ilaiyaraaja’s ongoing suit — OA 946 of 2025 and C.S. (Comm Div) 249 of 2025 — seeks to restrain Sony Music from commercially exploiting over 300 of his compositions, arguing that he remains the rightful owner under India’s Copyright Act. The High Court has already directed Sony Music to submit a day-to-day revenue account of earnings from his catalogue, amid allegations of unlicensed digital streaming and remixing.

Ilaiyaraaja’s grievances recently extended to two high-profile Tamil films — Good Bad Ugly (Ajith Kumar) and Dude (Pradeep Ranganathan), both produced by Mythri Movie Makers. In Good Bad Ugly, Ilaiyaraaja claimed that three of his iconic songs — “Ilamai Idho Idho,” “En Jodi Manja Kuruvi,” and “Otha Rooba Tharen” — were used without permission. The Madras High Court subsequently restrained the producers from exhibiting the film with those tracks, prompting Netflix India to remove the movie temporarily in September 2025. It later returned to the platform with the disputed songs edited out.

Similarly, Ilaiyaraaja’s counsel informed the court that two of his songs were used in Dude, another Mythri production starring Pradeep Ranganathan, without his consent. The court allowed him to pursue a separate legal action over that alleged infringement.

While Sony Music maintains it legally acquired rights through previous ownership chains, Ilaiyaraaja insists that the companies are misusing his creations and distorting their integrity — violating both his economic and moral rights. The case, which has now reached the Supreme Court on Sony’s transfer petition, has become one of India’s most closely watched artist-versus-label showdowns.