Renowned comedian Kapil Sharma has found himself in a legal predicament just days following the debut of The Great Indian Kapil Sharma Show Season 4's
initial episode. The copyright conflict involving Kapil and his OTT series has now escalated to the Bombay High Court. The court has provided Kapil Sharma, his production company K-9 Films, and Netflix a two-week period to submit their response to the petition. The petition was initiated by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) India. PPL India claims that several well-known Bollywood tracks were utilized in the third season of the series without obtaining the required licenses. The petition specifies that songs like M Bole To (from Munna Bhai MBBS), Rama Re (from the film Kaante), and Subah Hone Na De (from the film Desi Boyz) were featured in various episodes of the series, constituting a breach of copyright law.
Kapil Sharma faces legal issues over copyright concerns
PPL asserts that these tracks were not only used during production but are also distinctly audible in episodes subsequently streamed on OTT platforms. The organization contends that this constitutes "public performance" and "communication to the public," for which prior authorization and licensing are essential. The petition further notes that a notice was previously issued regarding this issue, but a satisfactory reply was not received. PPL has urged the court to restrict the use of unlicensed audio recordings and to prevent similar occurrences in the future.The petition emphasizes that three completed seasons, featuring numerous episodes, have already been broadcast, and filming for Season 4 is currently underway. It raises alarms that PPL’s audio recordings may be further misused in the upcoming season. The ongoing production heightens the urgency, as each new episode presents a potential infringement risk.
PPL contends that the producers are violating its copyrighted materials by attempting to utilize them without proper licensing and requests the court's intervention. The petition calls for judicial measures to protect the rights of copyright owners and ensure compliance with intellectual property regulations in the entertainment sector.
Kapil Sharma, his production company, Netflix granted 2 weeks to reply
As instructed by the Bombay High Court, Kapil Sharma, the producers of the show, and Netflix are required to submit their responses within the designated timeframe, after which the court will further address the copyright dispute.
During today’s hearing, Justice Sharmila Deshmukh allowed the defendants in the case two weeks to respond to the petition.
