Nayanthara wedding documentary in legal trouble again
The Netflix documentary Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale, chronicling the life and wedding of Nayanthara and filmmaker Vignesh Shivan, has once again found itself embroiled in legal controversy.
The Madras High Court has reportedly issued notices to Netflix and Tarc Studios, the documentary’s producer, concerning the alleged unauthorized use of footage from the 2005 Rajinikanth-starrer Chandramukhi.
The latest legal challenge comes from AP International, a company claiming to hold the copyright to Chandramukhi.
The company has filed a petition asserting that clips from the blockbuster film were used in the documentary without their consent or proper licensing.
AP International is reportedly seeking a hefty compensation of Rs 5 crore and demanding that the disputed footage be removed from the documentary, along with a disclosure of the earnings generated from its release.
This move by AP International is particularly notable given earlier reports that Sivaji Productions, the original producers of Chandramukhi, had previously issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the use of footage and denied any legal action against Nayanthara or the documentary’s makers.
However, AP International’s petition suggests that their copyright claim stems from their acquisition of audio and song video rights for the film, and they allege that the documentary producers used clips directly from their YouTube channel, evident from watermarks.
They further claim that they had issued a cease and desist notice, and only after this did the documentary’s producers approach them for rights, but no agreement was finalized.
This isn’t the first time Nayanthara: Beyond the Fairytale has faced legal scrutiny. The documentary was previously at the center of a dispute with actor-producer Dhanush’s production banner, Wunderbar Films.