The verdict is out…Roshans had to pay 2 crore…
…..to Ram Sampath and am on seventh heaven. No, i didnt make a single penny. But happy that it finally happened. A landmark judgement for sure.
According to Mumbai Mirror, Ram Sampath says….
In an industry where plagiarism seems to be a way of working, I feel truly vindicated. I have been acknowledged as the original composer of the two ‘Break free’ songs of Krazzy 4 and not Mr Rajesh Roshan, and the dishonesty of the others concerned here has been noted in court. I have been paid damages to the tune of the sum I asked for, and the producers have promised to give me credit in future prints of the film.
And there is more. Check out how the so called giant SONY behaved…
First, I tried to check with the company how this had happened. But I was shunted around from receptionist to receptionist, almost as if I had nothing to do with it! They tried to stonewall me, thinking I’d either get scared or run out of steam. The Roshans didn’t get back to me either. The Roshans ’supposedly’ had an NOC for using the jingle, so why wasn’t this NOC produced in court? Obviously it was a verbal agreement, done without my knowledge.
So I went to court alone. And I’m a proud citizen today. Tomorrow if anyone tells me that there’s no point in fighting against plagiarism, I can quote my case.
According to this report of TOI, what Hrithik Roshan did, was hilarious. The so called intelligent actor actually made Sampat’s case stronger (you dont need brains to do films like Dhoom2 and Krrish. so, i guess it stops working after sometime. Isnt it, Funny Guy ? )…
Hrithik, who had a part in the video for the commercial with Sampath’s musical score, had – after sending two SMSes urging Sampath not to “stress out” his father Rakesh Roshan “at his age” – sent a long explanatory message on April 4. The text message, along with the clinching expert opinion by composer Shiv Mathur and the fact that Roshan had indirectly admitted to using six seconds of The Thump in the film’s score, helped the judge rule against the Roshans.
Hrithik’s message to Sampath read: “Ram, I just wanted you to know that I am a flag-bearer in the fight against piracy, which is why we didn’t move forward till we acquired an NOC from Ericsson.” Hrithik said the norm in the Indian film industry was that the producers held the copyright and so there was “no reason to doubt the NOC”.
The court said that the SMS was sent by Hritik on his father’s behalf and clearly mentioned that they had used Sampath’s music after the NOC. “But in his affidavit, Rajesh Roshan (Hrithik’s uncle) says he composed the music himself. The two versions are at variance. It appears the Roshans thought they would take the defence that they had the permission to use Sampath’s work but changed their stand and denied infringement when they found that Sony Ericsson was not the owner of the copyright.”
Is it really 2 crore ? A lil less…
A cheque of Rs 1,77,34,600 (the amount after tax deductions) was handed over to Sampath in the post-lunch session by the Roshans. Sampath had originally demanded Rs 2 crore in the suit and refused to negotiate.
“We are eager to encash the cheque and they (the Roshans) are eager to release the film,” Virendra Tulzapurkar, counsel for Sampath, said before the consent terms were approved by the court which vacated its order of injunction.
Well done, Mr Sampath. All the best.
Bhattsaab, are you read to pack up your “backup” now ? Or u also waiting to learn it the hard way ? ( In Bhatt camp, backup is the official word for hollywood dvds)
PFC is also planning to launch a campaign against plagiarism and will come out with its “Hall of Shame” very soon. We will also make sure that the original content creators get to know who is copying what in which format. so Beware!!
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Tags: court verdict, Hrithik Roshan, krazzy 4, rakesh roshan, ram sampath
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
ROCKING!!.. “HALL OF SHAME” exquisite and delightful.. waiting… awaiting
Ram Sampath- the man of the moment- symbolizing the power of one!! Rockstar he is.:((
I thought he had sold out when Rediff broke the news that they will sort it out of the court. But, am glad that was all rubbish and that he will get the due credit for his work! I would have been more happy if he had gotten to postponed the movie, so the prints could have his name in it.
And that was a smart move by Hrithick(!)
What will he do with all that money, btw? Release an album?
“Hall of Shame” indeed !! I have no doubt there will be plenty of juice in it thanks to our amazing ‘rip-a-dvd’ producers.
I can nearly see Mahesh uncle going on TV and saying PFC is a nuisance to the society.
I think there should be a separate category “Plagiarism” for posting in the future.
This is fab news. Too little too late but still good news. I am in the process of sending scripts to various production houses & tend to get scared at the way a faceless entity is picking up my hard work. Thankfully this case is a positive point for guys like me who can at least have the backing of the judiciary. Kudos to the brave man who decided to be the david for this goliath
And now someone needs to sue Pritam…
Pritam ka time aa gaya… after this landmark decision, plagiarism has got an identity.. Mahesh uncle and rest of the uncles are going to have a bad time:d
Hall of shame is a good idea! And we already have someone who has found possible inductees… www.bollycat.com
Great News…Phoenixnu GR8 Post and yes all the inspired dudes need to be Cautious
=d>=d>
http://tinyurl.com/466ua8
Looks like the blame Game has started, Rakesh Roshan now points fingers at Sony.
Enjoy Maadi :d
@PB2
a better site for checking out ‘chronicles of plagiarism’ is http://www.itwofs.com.
they have categorized it based on music directors. by the way, lots of data on bollycat is wrong
@Phoenixnu
We need something like this:
http://www.itwofs.com/hindi-pritam.html
thanks to vimal (coment#25) for the above link
http://passionforcinema.com/oh-f-pritam-bought-the-rights-of-an-original-song/
see the names of different music lifters(directors) and their inspirations.
also agree on “We will also make sure that the original content creators get to know who is copying what in which format.” because just pointing out the plagiarism will not stop these shameless people. we should ensure the original content creator (where ever he/she may be korea/hollywood/arab) knows who is earning corers
from his/her work in Mumbai.
This will serve two purpose:
Because of coming of new players(corporate/individuals) ,the demand for film/script/music is going to increase or at least remain same as of today i.e high.
But the already established artists will take more time to churn out something worth and original.
1)This will force productions houses to give chance to newcomers/other struggler’s and let them show their talent.
2)This may strengthen the new cinema wave started by some PFC bogglers and others and we will see more movies like My brother Nikhil,mithya , mixed double,MSFU, Dill dosti etc,khoya-2 chand, Being Cyrus,Apharan.
We should codename this initiative “PROJECT MAYHEM” :d
^:)^ ^:)^ ^:)^ great post ,while the books of Sarat Chandra, Premchand gather dust ,our directors are busy adapting their screenplay from hollywood dvd’s.
I think all plagiarists should burn in hell along with pirated DVDs and CDs of their work. BUT this case smells to me. I hate Rajesh Roshan for the lifting, but this man Sampat is himself the master of plagiarizing jingles and the timing is suspicious. Read this:
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200804112021.htm
‘Ram Sampat schemed to make money out of me’
Mumbai (PTI): With ‘Krazzy4′ finally hitting the screens on Friday, the film’s producer Rakesh Roshan has hit out at music composer Ram Sampat who had slapped a copyright infringement case against him and later withdrew for an out-of-court settlement and alleged the latter had schemed to make money out of him.
In a statement issued here on Friday, Roshan said it is interesting to note that ‘Krazzy 4′ music was launched in February 2008 and the promos containing the alleged infringed work was released on TV on all channels in the end of February 2008.
“All these days, Ram Sampat chose to wait and instituted the suit in the High Court just a few days before the release of the film. This was a well-planned scheme of making money. Having all the proof in my hand to defend, I was helpless for want of time”, Roshan charged.
The filmmaker said he was required to be in the court when the prints of the film had already been delivered all over the world.
“Finding myself caught in a helpless situation and to keep up my commitment with distributors and to respect feelings of the audience, I had no way but to succumb to the pressure and to compromise on the matter, thereby seeing that the film is released on the announced date.
“To honor all these commitments, moral and professional, I paid the price to Ram Sampat who strangulated me just days before the release,” he alleged.
But like itwofs.com’s author Karthik describes it, this art of Alt-x and Alt-v had been happening rite from the 50’s. I mean, you have Shankar Jai Kishen, S.D.Burman, etc. So does this mean that the Indian Music Industry, especially Hindi was relying only on the art of cut-copy-paste ??? Cuz, during the late 80’s and till mid 90’s,it was Anu Malik and Nadeem Shravan who were ruling the charts. Most of their work now appears to be blatant lifts.It is seriously embarassing !!!
In the same site, if you check A.R.Rahman’s work, its obvious that he has only borrowed the loops and the song remains original. The loop need not be borrowed too as they are commercially available in softwares like Fruity Loops, etc. So it could be coincidental too that different music directors across the globe use the same loop.
Right now, Roshan Sr. comes up with his version. If you check out his bro Rajesh Roshans previous works in itwofs.com, does his explanation hold any good ???
Roshan senior is merely talking about the timing. How long have the airwaves been peppered with this music? And that Sampat fellow himself is a master plagiarist in his ad jingles!
@16 (rextreme), u said “but this man Sampat is himself the master of plagiarizing jingles “.
I don’t think so. IMO, Ram Sampath is a good n orginical music composer. His music score for “Let’s Talk” has won him laurels at Locarno. He’s won Abby also. And, who can forget Shaan’s “Tanha Dil, Tanha Safar” from Tanha Dil ?
@ 13 Faltu –
That is exdactly what PFC has in mind as it launches the assault on plagiarists.
PFC ke haath kanoon se bhi bahut lambe hain
2 cror:)>-
ram sampat
de dii roshans ko 2 cror kii chapat=)):))
@19 BUT the timing is still fishy don’t you think? Have we all not been hearing this “copied” music for the last month and a half? This did not give anyone time to react and placed the makers between a rock and a hard place.
I am no Roshan fan – they make atrocious films, but fair is fair.
More from papa Roshan:
http://www.newkerala.com/one.php?action=fullnews&id=47151
“This was a well planned scheme for making money. Having all the proof in my hand to defend, I was helpless for want of time.”
“I was required to be in the court when the prints of the film had already been delivered all over the world. Finding myself caught in a helpless situation and to keep up my commitment with distributors and to respect feelings of the audience, I had no way but to succumb to the pressure and to compromise on the matter, thereby seeing that the film is released on the announced date,” the director said.
Roshan maintained: “I had liked the music piece of the ad which I saw on TV in which Hrithik Roshan is performing as a brand ambassador for Sony Ericsson. For the purpose of using some portion of the said music in my film, I requested Sony Ericsson. I was granted consent and permission by Sony Ericsson through a letter dated 13th December, 2007.
“Consequently, in good faith and relying on the authorisation of Sony Ericsson, I recorded the song with the required modification, retaining only four bars of the ‘Thump’ track. I was surprised and shocked on March 24, 2008 to receive a notice from the solicitors of Ram Sampat containing allegations of infringement of his work.”
“I contacted Sony Ericsson and was told that they issued the letter by mistake and, in fact, they didn’t have the rights for the same. Before I could think of any solution, Sampat filed a suit in the Bombay High Court framing all wild and frivolous allegations of infringing his copyright of said music piece of Thump,” Roshan said.
He said that instead of approaching the cour,t Sampat should have contacted him first.
“It was really a shocking development because instead of approaching me to know the facts he straight away went to court. It was evident, after going through the case filed, that he was preparing the suit for a long time.”
timing?????????????
chor ke ghar chori:)
gang war:d:))
Now going by the reviews, Krazzy4 is another Krapp in the name of Komeddy. Roshan Sr. is sure going to lose a lot more money out of this :((;)
@ rextreme (22), I feel the timing is right. If Roshans had more time, may be result would have been different with all the money & power they have. And what difference do you think the “timing” would have made on the case? Plagiarism is plagiarism is plagiarism.
Whats the harm if Sampath had planned the timing ?? Whats wrong in that…
Having said that, I wont say this is a case of plagiarism as there was an attempt to buy the rights.. yes you can call it screw up with the paperwork.
If you wanna steal why wud you even attempt to get something from sony?
I tend to agree with Alone. There’s more to this story than meets the eye. I agree that this is a landmark case against plageurism, and that this has been a long time coming, but…
But in this particular case, there seemed to have been some process followed. Some attempt at acquiring the right for the jingle.
That the film itself is a complete lift of “The Dream Team” is another story altogether…
Exactly – they got rights to use the jingle from Sony Ericsson – who they thought owned the rights, and Sony gave them rights that were not theirs to give! Then timing becomes suspect and Sampat comes across as someone who was out to make a quick buck by holding the Roshan’s over a barrel. In Bihar it is called negotiating the surgeon’s fees with the family after cutting the patient open.
For plagiarizing the film plot line – they should certainly be made to pay. As should the Devgans for plagiarizing The Notebook, and Bellary for plagiarizing Dinner Game, and Anurag Basu for plagiarizing The Apartment. Just because the Roshans make big and BAD films (Krrish – yuck!) I do not think they should be judged by a different yardstick. But at least make them pay for the right thing – the song thing just seems wrong to me and makes Mr. Sampat look bad.
about time…hopefully this case will become an example to discourage plagiarism in the industry.
This is fantastic news, eagerly looking forward to PFC’s Hall Of Shame.
What happened to the case around “Partner.” There was talk that they were being sued in LA courts but then…no word
Mahesh Bhatt: Isn’t this the guy who defended his blatant copy act on a TV interview with something like this, ” I had a discussion with Dalai Lama and even he agreed that there’s nothing original in the world!’
So, if I deduce this line further I may get: “Plagiarism may be morally wrong but spiritually you can’t find a fault in it for it’s all maya and mithya!” lol
@25, Yup, absolutely I agree with u vikkky!
rextreme you seem to be genuinely confused in ure morals. you accuse Ram Sampath of being a copy cat without any proof or examples . thats plain pathetic & vicious . he shd sue yu for defamation but i guess ud not be worth it !!! & alone , check this article out ..ul get your answers about the so called permission that the Roshans supposedly took from SONY Ericcsson.
http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article§id=15&contentid=200804112008041102071917757823ed4
Why wasnt this permission letter produced in court ? Are Roshans running a multi crore company without maintaining such important records ?
Hats off to Ram Sampath !!!
ARTICLE:
In an industry where plagiarism seems to be a way of working, I feel truly vindicated. I have been acknowledged as the original composer of the two ‘Break free’ songs of Krazzy 4 and not Mr Rajesh Roshan, and the dishonesty of the others concerned here has been noted in court. I have been paid damages to the tune of the sum I asked for, and the producers have promised to give me credit in future prints of the film.
Ram Sampath
I heard the ‘Break free’ songs around March 18 and was horrified to find that they were taken from ‘The Thump,’ the jingle I had composed for Sony Ericsson. The jingle had taken over 100 hours of work to compose – all original work requires a lot of time and energy. And I wasn’t going to let anyone else walk away with the credit. It was just not on! It was just so dishonest.
First, I tried to check with the company how this had happened. But I was shunted around from receptionist to receptionist, almost as if I had nothing to do with it! They tried to stonewall me, thinking I’d either get scared or run out of steam. The Roshans didn’t get back to me either. The Roshans ’supposedly’ had an NOC for using the jingle, so why wasn’t this NOC produced in court? Obviously it was a verbal agreement, done without my knowledge.
So I went to court alone. And I’m a proud citizen today. Tomorrow if anyone tells me that there’s no point in fighting against plagiarism, I can quote my case. The High Court has given a very quick decision. It’s a decision which sets a precedent for the music industry and is bound to make plagiarists sit up and think twice.
And I’m not shy about the amount of money. We deliberately kept the figure for damages huge, because this is a first. There will be a second and a third case too. The idea is to make people think ten times before plagiarising other people’s work so nonchalantly. Copyright has to be understood and respected. If we can’t protect what’s ours, there’s no point in creating anything.
Everyone in the creative field should get their hands on the 1957 Indian Copyright Act. It makes it very clear that no one has the carpet licence to use your work, or let others use it to their own credit, by paying you a one-time fee. I am not an employee of any company. I was hired as an external collaborator. So there was no question of my work being anyone else’s to give away at will.
There has been a huge reaction to the case. Now some people will be proud of me, some will be wary. The money is a deterrent, what I have gained is my right. It was about time that someone got up to protest. I’ve given permission for the film to release on time because my aim was not to affect business, but to fight for honesty – which I’ve fought for, and won.
(As told to Piali Banerjee)
Who’s Ram Sampath?
Ram Sampath started out playing keys in a rock band, and was into professional composing by age 17. Over 13 years, he has composed music for over 4,000 ads, 20 TV shows, 4 pop albums like Shaan’s Lovology and Tanha Dil, and 3 films. He has done the background score of Ram Madhvani’s Let’s Talk. He is working on two more films now. He has also collaborated with the international band INXS and with Justin Timberlake.
The story so far
• ’The Thump’ is a jingle composed by Ram Sampath for Sony Ericsson in March 2007 and aired in April 2007. Hrithik Roshan endorses Sony Ericsson.
• Sampath filed a complaint against the Roshans using the tune of The Thump in two ‘Break free’ songs and in the background score in Krazzy 4 without giving him credit.
• On April 10, the High Court gave a judgment ordering the Roshans to pay damages claimed, of Rs 2 crore, to Sampat and to give him credit in all future prints of the film.
• Krazzy 4 releases today, as per schedule.
• Sony Ericsson refuses to comment.