The Dewarists, a television program produced by Star India, which follows musicians from different parts of the world, collaborating to produce original compositions, while travelling across India. has received critical acclaim from viewers since it was first broadcast a month or so ago. But like many television shows that exceed expectations and have surging popularity, it too has become immersed in a copyright dispute.
It is reported that the Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the producers of the show, Babble Fish as well as its chief sponsor, Bacardi for an alleged copyright violation.
It appears that the petitioner, Manish Kumar, a writer and musician, is alleging that he had conceptualised a television program with the same elements – national and international musicians, country-wide travel, original compositions, a recorded music video – incorporated into a single show in a format similar to ‘The Dewarists’. His claim appears strong since he had posted his idea for the program on http://www.spiritofmusic.com with a time stamp of November 2009, a fairly long period before the actual broadcast of the show. Moreover, he claims to have registered the concept for the show with the Association of Motion Picture and TV Producers (“AMTPP”) under the name ‘Music Virasat’, which roughly translates to ‘Music Heritage’, a possible indication that the show, as conceptualised by him, was created to demonstrate the cultures and traditions of India, through a documentary/travelouge involving international musicians.
However, as with all such disputes, one has to be careful to consider the contracts entered into the parties, prior to the television show being broadcast, since they could very often determine the rights of parties in the case of a dispute and more fundementally, authorship and ownership questions. It is seen that the petitioner entered into an agreement with ETV for the production of the show but had to abandon the programme due to the Telangana agitation. It was also submitted to Doordarshan and Channel V for consideration. Channel V, owned by Star India, had a meeting with the petitioner in June 2011, but nothing fruitul came out of the meeting and the discussions ended inconclusive. However, the program aired on October, 2011, without the knowledge of the petitioner.
Th petitioner and the company he is represented by, Open Mind, have demanded that the telecast of the program be stayed. However, Justice Manmohan Singh refused to grant a stay order, stating that all damages and remedies shall be made after the matter is finally decided. He ordered the issue of a notice to be sent to Star India and asked the defendants to reply within 10 days. The matter is posted for hearing on December 19, 2011.
Our readers will remember our post on the Ra.One dispute where a similar petition was filed by a television producer and writer, alleging that he had discussed the script and idea for a film along the lines of Ra.One with the director, but was not credited when the film was finally released. Here too, the petitioner had registered the idea with the Film Writer’s Association and had documents to prove the same. In that case, the Hon’ble Judges had found a prima-facie case of copyright violation, while passing an order for conditional film release as an interim arrangement, asking the producers to deposit Rs. One crore in the registry.
The main issue that emerges from these cases according to me is simple – the distinction between idea and expression in copyright law and whether the television/movie producers are merely drawing from the idea conceptualised by the petitioners in both the cases and executing them through their own unique and creative expressions, in which case there is no copyright violation to speak of, or are they simply free-riding on the discussions with the petitioners and infringing copyright.
Note: We would like to thank Mr. S.K. Mohanty for bringing this case to our notice.
Sounds like a shaky petition. Idea and not expression being copied. Secondly, enough time since 2009 for the petitioner to exploit his idea. The AMTPP angle may allow for some relief.
oops. didnt read the whole thing. I was wondering why idea-expression hadn’t been mentioned. My bad.
Although the claim of the petitioner seems to be justified to a certain extent in the light of the events, however, there is one vital historical issue that seems to have been missed.
It can be argued by Star India that the concept of the show ‘Dewarists’, to document different regions of India, is not new to the brand of ‘Dewars’. Dewar’s has had a long history of travelling for the purpose of publicizing their brand and documenting the entire travel. Tommy Dewar in 1894 documented his travel in the book named “A Ramble Round the Globe”, covering 26 countries in a span of two years. This concept of documenting every region takes up atleast 30-35 mins. of the 40 mins. long episode of ‘Dewarists’. (More info. available at: http://www.dewars.com, although one needs to be above 25yrs of age to access the website)
Further, as Bacardi is sponsoring the show (who happened to acquire Dewars in 1998, Info at: http://www.bacardilimited.com/fact_sheet.html), it makes sense for Bacardi to adopt the legacy of Thomas Dewar himself to promote the brand in India.
P.S: I would like to clarify that I am basing my argument on the limited information available on behalf of the petitioner, since, I was unable to access the link mentioned in your post (www.spiritofmusic.com) and also did not find any other relevant information online.
Although the claim of the petitioner seems to be justified to a certain extent in the light of the events, however, there is one vital historical issue that seems to have been missed.
It can be argued by Star India that the concept of the show ‘Dewarists’, to document different regions of India, is not new to the brand of ‘Dewars’. Dewar’s has had a long history of travelling for the purpose of publicizing their brand and documenting the entire travel. Tommy Dewar in 1894 documented his travel in the book named “A Ramble Round the Globe”, covering 26 countries in a span of two years. This concept of documenting every region takes up atleast 30-35 mins. of the 40 mins. long episode of ‘Dewarists’. (More info. available at: http://www.dewars.com, although one needs to be above 25yrs of age to access the website)
Further, as Bacardi is sponsoring the show (who happened to acquire Dewars in 1998, Info at: http://www.bacardilimited.com/fact_sheet.html), it makes sense for Bacardi to adopt the legacy of Thomas Dewar himself to promote the brand in India.
P.S: I would like to clarify that I am basing my argument on the limited information available on behalf of the petitioner, since, I was unable to access the link mentioned in your post (www.spiritofmusic.com) and also did not find any other relevant information online.