A few days ago, Kannada actor-filmmaker Rakshit Shetty’s production house Paramvah Studios had issued an open letter on social media in response to a police complaint filed by MRT Music alleging copyright infringement in the film Bachelor Party. MRT Music’s contention was that Paramvah Studios had used bits from two songs that the former holds the rights to without permission. This was not an inadvertent mistake by the banner, but rather a conscious choice, as Paramvah Studios had engaged in discussions with MRT about the use of these two songs, and chose not to get relevant permission, claiming that the compensation sought was exorbitant.

In the open letter, Paramvah Studios admitted that there was communication between the parties and that the music in question plays only for a few seconds – one of a student singing a couple of lines and another in a scene of a song playing on a TV in the background. The note further stated that the production house was prepared to fight this charge legally, so as to get clarity on what does and what does not constitute copyright infringement and to define limits of compensation and damages liable in such situations.

The Yeshwantpur police had taken cognizance of the complaint filed by Mr Naveen Kumar of MRT Music and filed an FIR and issued a notice to the actor seeking his response. On July 20, Rakshit approached the city sessions court seeking anticipatory bail in the case, hearing for which has been posted to July 24. This is not the first time that Rakshit has fought a copyright case.

He was in a legal battle with Lahari Music for several years, over a song from Kirik Party composed by Ajaneesh Loknath. A compromise was reached only in 2021 following intervention from Hombale Films. Ajaneesh was later involved in a copyright infringement tussle with music band Thaikkudam Bridge over similarities between his song Varaha Roopam from Kantara and the band’s Navarasam.

Rakshit, meanwhile, is currently in the pre-production of his next directorial, Richard Anthony – Lord of the Seas, a prequel to his filmmaking debut, Ulidavaru Kandante. The actor was last seen in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello and is looking at spending the foreseeable future on his directorials, with at last 3-4 in the pipeline.

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