The Chennai Super Kings vs Sun TV Network tussle continues in the courtroom, only a few days before the opening day of the IPL 2026 season. The copyright claim takes a new turn when the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited issued a fresh statement on March 16 in the Madras High Court.
CSKCL told the court that they would approach music licensing agencies such as Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and Novex Communications to obtain a license for using Rajinikanth starrer Jailer and Coolie songs in its promos. They also urged Sun TV Network Limited not to interfere in the process.
What is the main issue between CSK and the Sun TV Network?
Ahead of the IPL 2026 season, Chennai Super Kings has been facing a legal case, filed by Kavya Maran’s Sun TV Network, who also owns the IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad, They dragged CSK Cricket Limited to the court with the allegation for using audio tracks, background music, as well as film dialogues in one of their promotional videos, without any permission.
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According to the case filed by the Sun TV Network, CSK used music and dialogues from Rajinikanth’s films Jailer, Jailer 2, and Coolie, without taking any permission. As per the allegations, CSK used that music and those famous dialogues from those famous movies in a promotional video released to unveil the team’s new jersey.
The jersey unveil video was shared on multiple popular social media accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram, and ‘X’, which gained a significant amount of attention from cricket fans. Later, CSK deleted the video from the social media platforms as they received copyright strikes from the Sun TV Network.
Sun TV Network issued a copyright strike
According to media reports, on March 13, 2026, senior counsel J. Ravindran, who has been representing Sun TV Network in the court, informed that CSK stopped using the copyrighted material after receiving a warning email sent on March 1. Chennai Super Kings reupload the video with licensed background music.
In the following hearing on Monday (March 16, 2026), CSK Cricket Limited said that they would approach music licensing agencies to obtain a license for using the using audio tracks, background music, as well as film dialogues.
CSK asks Sun TV Network not to interfere in the process
“Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Cricket Limited on Monday (March 16, 2026) told the Madras High Court that it would approach music licensing agencies such as Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) and Novex Communications to obtain license for using Rajinikanth starrer Jailer and Coolie songs in its promos but the producer of those movies Sun TV Network Limited should not interfere in the process,” according to a report published by The Hindu.
“In an affidavit filed before Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, CSKCL Managing Director Kasi Viswanathan alias K.S. Viswanathan, 73, said, the cricketing company had been using songs, dialogues, and music from those movies in its promos for quite a few years but Sun TV Network did not raise any objection till March 1, 2026,” the report further informed.
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