Madras HC Issues Notice On Plea Claiming Scenes From Rajnikanth-Starrer 'Chandramukhi' Were Unauthorisedly Used In Nayanthara's Documentary

The Madras High Court has issued notice on a plea claiming that the scenes from Rajnikanth starrer “Chandramukhi” movie had been used unauthorisedly in Actor Nayanthara's documentary “Nayanthara: Beyond the fairytale”. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy issued notices to Tarc Studio LLP and Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP, returnable by 2 weeks. The notices were issued on the plea filed by AP International, a major film distributor, who had acquired the copyright over the movie “Chandramukhi” from the original producers M/s. Sivaji Productions. AP International claimed that it had the audio and song video rights, along with other rights to the movie for the entire world, excluding audio cassette and audio CD rights for Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Canada. It was submitted that Tarc Studio LLP, which had made the documentary movie, had used clippings from the Chandramukhi movie, without obtaining any prior authorization or license, and had directly used the clippings from the company's YouTube channel, which was evident from the watermark appearing in the clips. The company claimed that on coming to know of the usage, it had issued a cease and desist notice to the respondents, calling upon them to refrain from further unauthorised usage and to pay damages quantified at Rs. 5 crore. It was further submitted that after receiving the notice, the respondents had approached the applicant company to acquire digital exploitation rights. However, the respondents did not conclude any agreement for the acquisition of the rights. The company contended that despite being aware of the existence of copyright, the respondents had gone on to use the clippings for the documentary unauthorisedly, which amounted to infringement. It was argued that grave prejudice and irreparable loss would be caused to the applicant if they were permitted to continue using the clippings. Thus, the company had sought for a permanent injunction restraining the defendants and their men from using the clippings from the “Chandramukhi” movie unauthorisedly and to take down the infringing portion from the documentary. Case Title: AP International v M/s Tarc Studio LLP And Another Case No: CS (Comm Div) 168 of 2025

Madras HC Issues Notice On Plea Claiming Scenes From Rajnikanth-Starrer 'Chandramukhi' Were Unauthorisedly Used In Nayanthara's Documentary

Upasana Sajeev

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