The Kerala high court on Thursday stayed a case registered against south Indian actor Prithviraj Sukumaran in connection with alleged copyright violation of the song ‘Varaharoopam’ in popular Kannada movie ‘Kantara’.
In a complaint filed by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company, the Kozhikode police in north Kerala registered a case against the actor as he was the director of the company, Prithviraj Productions Limited, which is the distributor of the film in Kerala. A case was registered against him under Section 63 of the Copy Rights Act last month.
In its compliant, Mathrubhumi said the popular song in the movie was an unauthorised copy of the ‘Navarasam’ song which was first aired by Kappa TV, a music channel owned by the newspaper group, and performed by popular band of the state “Thaikudam Bridge.” It alleged the producer, director and distributor of the film violated copy rights and it was sheer plagiarism.
But Prithviraj contended that as the director of the distribution company he was only concerned with the distribution of the film and was not involved with the production of the movie at any stage. The role of his company was only limited to an intermediary that distributes the film to theatres after obtaining permission of the producer, he said.
{{/usCountry}}But Prithviraj contended that as the director of the distribution company he was only concerned with the distribution of the film and was not involved with the production of the movie at any stage. The role of his company was only limited to an intermediary that distributes the film to theatres after obtaining permission of the producer, he said.
{{/usCountry}}The single bench of justice Bechu Kurian Thomas agreed to his submission saying “the actor was unnecessarily being dragged into it and initiating copyright violations against him was stretching it too far.” Later it stayed the first information report (FIR) against him.
Earlier, the court had granted bail to the director and producer of the film who were arraigned as the first and second accused in the case under a condition that they will not carry their song in the movie till a final order was passed by a competent court. But, on February 10, the Supreme Court stayed the bail conditions set by the high court.
‘Kantara’, an action thriller movie directed by Rishab Shetty, was released on September 30 last year and got rave reviews and earned good collection. A month later Thaikudam Bridge band group accused the makers of the film of plagiarising their song ‘Navarasam’.