Delhi court rules Ilaiyaraaja has no rights over En Iniya Pon Nilave song recording

The Delhi High Court has ruled that music composer Ilaiyaraaja does not own the copyright to the lyrics or the original sound recording of the Tamil hit song En Iniya Pon Nilave. The court said that while Ilaiyaraaja composed the tune, the rights to the recorded song belong to the film producer and were later legally transferred to Saregama India Limited.

According to Bar and Bench, the ruling came during a dispute over the recreated version of the song in the 2025 film Aghathiyaa.

A Bench of Justices Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla dismissed Ilaiyaraaja?s appeal and upheld an earlier order passed by the



High Court. In simple terms, the court clarified that a composer owns the musical composition or tune, but not automatically the lyrics or the final sound recording used in a film.

The court noted that En Iniya Pon Nilave was originally part of the 1980 Tamil film Moodu Pani, produced by Raja Cine Arts. According to the court, the producer had legally transferred the rights of the film?s songs to Saregama through an agreement signed in 1980.

The legal battle began in January 2025 when Saregama approached the court against Vels Films International over the planned recreated version of the song in Aghathiyaa.