High Court orders removal of ‘karuththa machaan’ song from dude

The Madras High Court this afternoon ordered the removal of the song “Karuththa Machaan” from the Tamil film Dude, following a copyright infringement case filed by veteran composer Ilayaraja.
Ilayaraja had moved the court alleging that his songs “Karuththa Machaan” and “100 Varusham” were used in Dude, starring Pradeep Ranganathan, R. Sarathkumar and Mamita Baiju, without securing proper permission. The case was heard by Justice N. Senthilkumar.
During earlier hearings, the production company argued that Sony Music had obtained the rights to the songs from Echo Recording Company and had authorised their use. Ilayaraja’s counsel countered this claim, stating that the High Court had already issued an injunction against Echo on this matter, questioning the legitimacy of the rights transfer.
The judge also raised concerns about the delayed legal action, asking why the case was pursued only after the film was released on an OTT platform. Ilayaraja’s side said that a legal notice sent after the release was returned by the production company, claiming “no such person exists.”
When the matter came up again today, the court noted that the song had been used in a way that “affected the sanctity” of Ilayaraja’s musical work. Following this observation, the High Court directed that “Karuththa Machaan” be removed from the film.
The production company’s plea for seven days’ time to delete the song was rejected. The court ordered the producers to file their response to Ilayaraja’s petition and adjourned the case to January 7.