TSIT ■ Bengaluru
A FIR has been registered against Rahul Gandhi and two other Congress leaders with Kanataka police for illegally using the music of KGF-2 in videos uploaded on social media for wrongful gains during the party’s Karnataka-leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra. The complaint was filed by MRT Music’s M Naveen Kumar at Yeshwanthpur police station against Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh and Supriya Shrinate, on Friday. The Congress used the two songs “Falak Tu Garaj Tu” and “Sultan” in the entire videos found on various social media platforms.The complainant prayed to the police to take down the fraudulent videos posted on social media by the Congress party in accordance with law.Accusing Rahul Gandhi, Kumar alleged that the Congress scion resorted to getting videos created showcasing his heroism and to portray him as a mass leader. In fact, these videos have helped Congress scion to gain a mass appeal and acceptance as they went viral on social media, the complainant alleged.
Kumar submitted that Supriya, incharge of social media handles of Ramesh, has illegally and unlawfully synchronized the sound recordings and audio video content of the film KGF-2 which is owned and held by him. The aforementioned unlawful actions of all accused amounts to an offence under section 63 of the Copyrights Act, he said.It also is a serious offence amounting to making a false electronic record with an intention to project the same as genuine and thereby cheating the public at large, Kumar argued. The said copyright material belonging to the complainant was not intended to be used for the purposes which the accused have utilized and thereby it also amounts to dishonest misappropriation of his movable property, Kumar said.
“The said copyright protected material belonging to the complainant, which the accused and their persons have stolen and misused, could not have been derived from legal or official source and it has been gained also through illegality and thereafter they have tampered with, distorted and used the same, which is a clearly case of an offence under provisions of Information Technology Act too,” he complained.Kumar submitted that the unauthorised distribution of its copyrighted work by the accused and the unauthorised use thereof is prejudicial to the exclusive statutory rights to him as the owner of the copyrights.
He further submitted that such unauthorised use of the music company’s copyrights and falsification of electronic documents, not only amounts to infringement of exclusive Intellectual Property Rights, but also further indicates that the accused are in some manner associated with his business. “Each of the copyrighted content has been illegally stored, hosted, downloaded, sideloaded and uploaded thereby creating infringing copies of the sound recording and audio visual content as per the Copyright Act, 1957 and the same is liable to be handed over or destroyed,” Kumar submitted.
Kumar also submitted that by such unauthorized uploading and downloading and distribution by the accused, has made him suffer huge losses.
“In fact, the very nature of the illegal activities of the accused has further diluted the valuable Intellectual Property Rights held and enjoyed by me,” he said.
