After sending a legal notice to singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, warning him against performing songs composed by him, music maestro Ilaiyaraja has sent a email to a Karaoke application Smule to remove his songs from the company’s database. Smule is an app that allows its users to sing Karaoke online.
The app has a list of around one lakh Tamil songs, from a range of composers like Ilaiyaraja, A.R. Rehman, M.S. Viswanathan and others.“We have sent an email to Smule. We are still waiting for their responses,” said E. Pradeep Kumar, Ilaiyaraja’s copyrights consultant.
Speaking to THE WEEK, Pradeep Kumar explained that it was Ilaiyaraja’s untiring work over 35 years that resulted in these compositions. “Smule, which charges for the songs, is violating the copyright.” According to Pradeep Kumar, Smule is a company based in the US and the legal team has sent an official email.
"In the US, every company is bound by the Copyright Act. They don’t know anything about Ilaiyaraja or his compositions. If they put up one song of Michael Jackson, even when he is no more, they will be sued for crores,” asks Pradeep. In fact, Ilaiyaraja’s intention by this email to Smule is not to stop the fans from singing or hearing his songs, says Pradeep. “But we expect anyone who use his compositions to take prior permission,” he said.
In 2015, Ilaiyraja began asserting copyright legally over the songs composed by him. He had approached the Madras High Court saying that television channels and FM radios should not stream his songs without his consent and if done so, he will take legal action. It was then that the Madras High Court ordered an injunction against four music labels—Agi Music, Echo Recording, Unisys and Giri Trading from monetising Ilaiyaraja’s compositions.
“Only I hold the right to all my songs. The agreements that I signed back in the days were valid only for five years. Since they were not renewed and no royalties have been paid, all agreements stand void,” Ilaiyaraaja had said in 2015.
Ilaiyaraja had even sent a legal notice to singer S.P. Balasubramanyam and Chithra saying that they had to seek permission before singing any songs that he composed. The former had to stay away from singing Ilaiyaraja’s classics during his SPB50 world tour in March this year.
