India's film producers face legal suits for infringing copyrights

icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu icernet-admin at listserv.cddc.vt.edu
Wed Oct 29 15:31:04 EST 2003


Artists have always been inspired by each other's works. Some call it 
creative input, others denounce it as plagiarism - the line between the two 
can be a very narrow one. In India, controversy has arisen about a song in 
a movie that was allegedly "lifted", once again bringing into focus the 
issue of inspiration versus copying. The producers of Indian movie "Khel" 
may have to face the court music, since executives of a Punjab-based music 
company has filed a suit against them.

With so many movies, there is always a question mark as to the originality 
of the songs, characters and plots. Grey areas also arise because of the so-
called 'shared cultural heritage' when ideas are borrowed from the many 
different ethnic groups in the country. For years, although allegations of 
lifting or copying ideas have abound in the Indian film and TV industry, no 
real solutions have been found, apart from bringing the cases to court. In 
July, India's highest court rejected an appeal by British author Barbara 
Taylor Bradford to stop a TV show 'Karishma: Miracle of Destiny'.

Source:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southasia/view/54271/1/.html






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