Music director Ilayaraja has sent a legal notice to director Shankar for “remixing and rearranging” his composition, Ooru Vittu Ooru Vandhu song, in the recently released film Kappal without permission and in violation of copyrights.
The song was originally used in the hit film Karagaattakkaaran starring Ramarajan and Kanaka. Now, the song, Ilayaraja alleged, has been used in Kappal . Shankar is the producer of the film, which is directed by one of his former assistants.
Advocate S.K. Ragunathan, who has sent the notice on behalf of Ilayaraja, said an inquiry had revealed that Shankar had entered into an agreement with Agi Music Pvt Ltd to acquire the licence to remix the song.
“My client says Agi Music Pvt Ltd has no ownership or publishing rights in respect of the song. The Madras High Court has granted an interim injection restraining Agi Music Pvt Ltd and others from exploiting the musical works of my client for thousands of films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada , including Karagaattakkaaran ,” Mr. Ragunathan said.
Urging Shankar to pay royalty for the song immediately or desist from using the song, Mr. Ragunathan said Ilayaraja would take appropriate criminal or civil proceedings if Shankar failed to comply with the notice.