Desi Boyz makers face trouble over copyright

• Posted by Sindhuri G August 28, 2012 - Filed in Entertainment - 2,414 views

  Andheri Magistrate Court issues summons against Rohit Dhawan and an arrest warrant against producer Krishika Lulla after writer Shyam Devkatte scales up his copyright battle
  
  Drawing 'inspiration' from stories, popular music tracks - Indian and International- or lyrics has been an accepted by most as a part and parcel of filmmaking. But of late, the new copyright infringement act has lent a voice to lesser known artistes who have been a victim of the prevalent practice.
  
  For instance, Euphoria's front man Palash Sen sparked off a controversy recently by claiming that the words in the title track of Aamir Khan's television show were lifted from his song, Satyameva Jayate. And Sen was not the first. Writer Muazzam Beg accused Imtiaz Ali of 'stealing' his story for the popular 2011 film Rockstar.
  
  And now TOI has learnt that scriptwriter-cum-director Shyam V Devkatte, who has been fighting the makers of Desi Boyz over copyright infringement since 2011, has taken the battle a notch higher.
  
  A bailable warrant (of which we have a copy) was issued against producer Eros International's Krishika Lulla and a summon sent to director Rohit Dhawan yesterday. When contacted, the complainant Shyam added, "The other co-producers Jyoti Deshpande and Vijay Ahuja will go through police enquiry. Their earlier plea at the High Court was dismissed. For the last two hearings held at the magistrate court, none of them were present. In fact, a summon and also a pasting summon were issued to Eros but to no avail. Hence an arrest warrant was issued by the Amboli Police Station on Monday evening."
  
  Eros International's head honcho Sunil Lulla's wife Krishika against whom the warrant has been issued said, "I am travelling. I will sort out the matter when I'm back."
  
  What happened earlier...
  Shyam had registered his story with the Writers' Association in 2008. After several meetings with various filmmakers, he e-mailed a copy of his story to Eros International. The story was allegedly used for Desi Boyz without his knowledge. Shyam filed a complaint at the Amboli Police Station on October 14, 2011 under Sections 63 (infringement) and 64 (seizure of infringing copies) of the Copyright Act. He also filed a private complaint with the Andheri Metropolitan Magistrate Court and forwarded the same to the zonal deputy commissioner of police. Eros managed to get a stay order on it.
  
  Films that faced similar allegation:
  Om Shanti Om (2007)
  Writer: Ajay Monga
  What happened then: Monga moved the Bombay HC against SRK, director Farah Khan and others, alleging that OSO is a copy of a script he wrote.
  
  Fashion (2008)
  Writer: Seema Seth
  What happened then: Seth accused Madhur Bhandarkar of 'stealing' the film's idea and plot from her novel. Her plea was later dismissed by the Delhi High Court.
  
  Ra.One (2011)
  Writer: Yash Patnaik
  What happened then: Days before the release, the HC pulled up SRK for using TV writer Patnaik's script for his film. He and his company eventually agreed to deposit a sum of Rs 1 crore to ensure the film's release.
  
  Jannat 2 (2012)
  Writer: Kapil Chopra
  What happened then: HC granted an ad-interim injunction against the satellite release of the film. Bhatts had to deposit Rs 10 lakh in Court for the same.