Chennai: The Madras High Court has temporarily restrained the makers of actor Ajith’s upcoming film 'Good Bad Ugly' from using three songs composed by musician Ilaiyaraaja.

Justice N Senthilkumar issued the interim injunction on a plea by Ilaiyaraja, who sought to block Mythri Movie Makers from exhibiting, screening, selling, distributing, publishing or broadcasting the film with the disputed tracks in any platform, including OTT, as reported by Live Law.

The veteran composer argued that the songs “Otha Rubayum Tharen” from 'Nattupura Pattu', “Ilamai Idho Idho” from 'Sakalakala Vallavan', and “En Jodi Manja Kuruvi” from 'Vikram' had been used without his consent or payment of royalties. He contended the use amounted to unauthorised appropriation and clear infringement of both his copyright and moral rights.

Ilaiyaraaja relied on Sections 19(9) and 19(10) of the Copyright Act, asserting his statutory entitlement to royalties for the use of his compositions across any medium. He said the alleged unauthorised use violated Section 51 of the Act and left him entitled to remedies including an injunction, damages, recovery of unpaid royalties, and potential criminal prosecution for wilful infringement under Section 63, as well as action for violation of moral rights under Section 57.