Ilaiyaraaja.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Sun TV Network Limited has approached the Madras High Court with a plea to modify an interim injunction obtained by acclaimed musician R. Ilaiyaraaja in a John Doe suit (a case filed against unknown entities, besides named entities) filed by him to protect his personality rights.
Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy has granted time till January 21 for the musician’s counsel A. Saravanan to obtain instructions on the modification applications filed by Sun TV Network as well as music label Music Masters Audio Video LLP, based in Chennai.
The judge also extended to the next date of hearing the injunction granted by another judge, Justice N. Senthilkumar, on November 21, 2025, injuncting all known and unknown entities/individuals from exploiting the musician’s name, image, photographs, and voice for commercial/personal purposes without his consent.
Mr. Ilaiyarajaa had filed the personality rights suit against named entities such as Amazon, Saavn Media, YouTube, Gaana, Apple Music, Five Star Audio, Sun TV Network, Music Master, Star Vijay TV, Indian Record Manufacturing Limited, Zee Entertainment, Meta Platforms, Sony Music, and other unknown entities.
In an affidavit, filed through its counsel Rahul Balaji, Sun TV Network told the court that although the musician’s core case was not without any merit, the blanket interim injunction obtained by him was overboard and seriously impairs the television network’s ability to commercially exploit its lawfully acquired copyrights.
The television network said, if the blanket interim injunction was not modified, it would prevent the company from creating even legitimate compilations of the songs composed by Mr. Ilaiyaraaja and give proper attribution to him, although he had not levelled any specific allegation against the network in his plaint.
Stating it was one of the leading media and entertainment conglomerates in Asia, operating as many as 37 television channels and 69 FM radio stations, the television network said, it had acquired broadcast and communication rights in a vast catalogue of songs composed by the musician.
The network said, it continuously broadcasts those songs through the television channels and radio stations through curated programme strands, theme nights and ‘Ilaiyaraaja Specials’ often around festivals, weekends, and on occasions such as his birthday or anniversaries of iconic films.
The court was also told the network always ensures a clear on-air attribution to the plaintiff as a composer of those songs and also by including his name and image in the programme titles, on-screen graphics and anchors’ introductions in order to give due recognition to him for his works.
Further, claiming the television network had expanded the reach of the musician’s works and popularised them among successive generations of Tamil diaspora spread across the world in the last three decades, the company said, it treats his music as a matter of cultural pride and not merely as an inventory.
“Sun TV’s practice of naming him in programme titles and on-air graphics fulfils and furthers the plaintiff’s right to attribution, rather than infringing it,” the network said and urged the High Court to suitably modify the interim injunction order so that it does not prevent lawful exploitation of copyrights acquired by the company.
Published – January 16, 2026 12:10 pm IST
