Maestro vs. Manjummel boys - Copyright Issues!

One of the biggest Malayalam movies recently was Manjummel Boys, a real-life story of a group of friends and their adventures in their Kodaikanal trip. The movie was released in February of 2024 and can also be streamed in OTT. Just when the makers relaxed and enjoying the fruits of their hard work, Music Maestro Ilayaraja sent them a legal notice for Copyright infringement.

In the movie, the viewers are welcomed into the world of Manjummel boys with the “Kanmani Anbodu” song composed by Ilayaraja for the movie “Guna”. The song makes a reappearance all throughout the movie and leaves us humming that song while walking out of the theatres. It is this use by the movie makers that led to them receiving a legal notice from the Maestro. The notice was addressed to Soubin Shahir, Babu Shahir and Shawn Antony of Parava films. In the notice, Ilayaraja stated that it was unauthorized usage of his song and asserted his legal and moral rights over it. Additionally, it also mentions that he holds exclusive rights to his music and the makers need to obtain his permission or license from him and not from the production houses. It also highlights that merely crediting him in the title card is insufficient.

Usually in the world of cinema, the production houses or the producers of the movie hold the rights over all the intellectual property involved. When the artists are hired to work for the flick, they usually waive off their legal and moral rights over their creation, this is called as “Work for hire”. If anyone wishes to use a piece of work from the movie, they must take permission or license it from the producers of the movie. Shawn Antony, Manjummel Boy’s producer responded to the issue and said that he already obtained rights to the song from two companies that own the copyright.   

It is important to note that previously, Ilayaraja has sent out legal notices regarding use of his music in other films as well. The courts have ruled that music can be used if they have acquired rights from the music label and that the composer does not exclusively control the usage of songs.