Nayanthara’s Netflix documentary lands in fresh legal trouble over copyright claims

The Netflix documentary ‘Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale’ has once again run into legal trouble. The producers of the Tamil film Chandramukhi have alleged that behind-the-scenes footage from their film was used in the documentary without permission.

Months ago, the makers of Chandramukhi had already sent a legal notice to actress Nayanthara and Netflix, claiming copyright infringement for using their content without consent. Now, A.P. International, which holds the copyright for Chandramukhi, has approached the Madras High Court seeking action.

In their petition, the company has demanded that the filmmakers, Rowdy Pictures and the documentary producers, The Tark Studios, and the global streaming platform Netflix respond within two weeks. They have also sought the removal of the disputed footage and to disclose about the revenue generated from the documentary.

The petition mentions that earlier legal notices had clearly demanded the removal of the infringing clips and sought compensation of Rs 5 crore for damages. Despite this, the company claims that the footage continues to be part of the documentary without any authorised No Objection Certificate (NOC).

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy of the Madras High Court has issued notices to both The Tark Studios, which produced the documentary, and Netflix, its global distributor.

Interestingly, this is not the first time the documentary has faced such allegations. Previously, actor Dhanush’s production house had served a legal notice to Nayanthara’s team for allegedly using behind-the-scenes footage from Naanum Rowdy Dhaan without permission. The issue sparked a controversy when Nayanthara posted on social media about not receiving an NOC from Dhanush, which further intensifies the dispute. Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairy Tale was released on November 18, 2024.