saradha, well said about maN satti-pon satti.
Almost all MD's had their share of inspirations and even blatant copies from sources around the world.
ABBA's `mAmA miA' (don't know whether ABBA got this from somewhere:-) became `mil gayA-therE liyE' in Hum kisise kum naheen, copied by RDB; also copied by MSV for his `vAnilE...AhAyaththil Arambam' song in his famous ninaiththAlE inikkum...
This kind of inspirations / copies goes on to prove the fact that film MD's, however talented they may be, at times copy. May be due to time pressure / insistence by external forces (like K Balachandar who has pushed all MD's to copy IMHO) /lack of creativity -either at that moment or always in some cases / sometimes unintentionally (engEyO kEttadhu mooLaiyil irundhu koNdu AttippadaippadhAl)...
However, if someone accepts like `well, this was done intentionally (or got inspired unintentionally), due to this reason, and the original artiste was compensated / acknowledged this way' (like A-M said about their great appreciation for IR), it'll be understandable / pardonable.
OTOH, if they keep telling `my creative juices are overflowing' (what Salim Malik said after he ditto copied inji iduppazhagi for hindi version Virasat) or `I don't listen to others' music' etc., then they deserve udhai...
thirudan pidikkappadumpozhudhu oppukkoNdu compensate paNNinAl mannippu...poi sonnAl dhaNdaNai - sari thAnE?