CHENNAI: Music composer Ilaiyaraaja, fighting a copyright battle against a batch of music labels, informed Madras high court on Wednesday that yet another Tamil movie, ‘Dude’, starring director-turned-actor Pradeep Ranganathan, used two of his songs in the film without his authorisation.“I am being cheated by the music companies who continue to exploit my compositions without my prior authorisation, even after the issue was brought before this court,” senior advocate S Prabakaran, representing Ilaiyaraaja, told HC.The submissions were made on a plea moved by the composer against Sony Music for the alleged unauthorised use of his compositions. Prabakaran contended that the music company had even failed to provide the day-to-day revenue generated by exploiting his works, as directed by the court.Opposing the submissions, senior advocate Vijay Narayan submitted the company had moved a transfer application before the Supreme Court, which had issued notice on the application.Recording the submission, Justice N Senthilkumar observed that since the apex court had admitted the transfer application and ordered notice on the same, it was inappropriate for him to hear the case. To this, Prabakaran submitted that the SC has not issued any interim orders staying the proceedings before the HC. Therefore, there was no impediment for HC to hear the case.On HC’s interim order directing Sony to file a report on the day-to-day revenue earned by exploiting the compositions of the petitioner, Narayan submitted that the report was ready, and they were inclined to file it in a sealed cover to maintain the confidentiality of the revenue details.Opposing this, Prabakaran contended that even SC had not appreciated filing reports in sealed covers in many instances. Considering the objection, the judge decided not to take on record the report filed by Sony and chose to wait for the outcome of the application moved before SC.Insisting that the revenue report must be made available to the petitioner, Prabakaran submitted that the movie ‘Dude’, released on Oct 17, had earned Rs 75 crore so far.Pointing out that the petitioner must file a separate application for his grievances against the movie, the high court adjourned the hearing to Nov 27.
