Can Yuvan Shankar Raja use his own composition from Pudhupettai in Star? Does the law give him that right?

Now, this is rare. Yuvan Shankar Raja in his recent film "Star" used his own composition" Oru Naalil" from the movie Pudhupettai. The whole theatre erupted when this song was played as we saw Kavin exploring about himself and struggling in the streets of Mumbai. The lyrics written by Na. Muthukumar Sir for Dhanush's Kokki Kumar character from Pudhupettai matched the scenario in which Kavin was left. While watching this movie as an intellectual property lawyer, my mind started asking questions in regard to this.

The verdict in the landmark case of IPRS v. Eastem India Company states that when a soundtrack is incorporated in a film then the producer of the film in the only copyright owner. Further, the composer has no right over the soundtrack. However, in this scenario we were able to enjoy Yuvan’s music in the movie Star - which is from a different producer. The movie Pudhupettai is produced by Lakshmi Movie Makers.

In such instance, we know for a fact that the crew of the movie "Star" would have acquired the license to use "Oru Naalil" song from the movie Pudhupettai. This is the law of the land. At the same time, when we search in Youtube for the song “Our Naalil Vazhkai”, we realise that the audio song has been released by THINK MUSIC INDIA 3 years ago and the video song has been released by THINK TAPES almost 1 year ago.

This could only mean that, the rights of the audio of the song have been licensed to or completely purchased by Think Music India and the video song has been licensed to or completely purchased by Think Tapes. The makers of the movie “STAR” would have obtained another license for the audio of the song from THINK MUSIC INDIA.

To answer the question, the law does not give him the right to reuse the song. Yuvan Shankar Raja may not have played a prominent role for the song being in the movie Star legally. However, his stardom combined with the evergreen “Oru Naalil Vazhkai” in a heart touching movie made it a wonderful success.

It's amazing how this reuse of classics like this gives out a different expression in a different movie.