Kannada actor-director-producer Rakshit Shetty reportedly applied for anticipatory bail after the Bengaluru police registered a case against him for copyright infringement. According to TNIE, the actor applied for bail in the Bangalore Sessions Court, which will hear the matter on July 24.

Rakshit applies for anticipatory bail

An FIR was filed on Rakshit based on a complaint by Naveen Kumar of MRT Music Company. The complaint alleged that Rakshit’s production house, Paramvah Studios, used songs from the movies Nyaya Ellide (1982) and Gaalimaathu (1981) without permission for the film Bachelor Party.

Bachelor Party was released on Amazon Prime Video in March of this year. It is alleged that in January this year, Rakshit and MRT Music discussed acquiring the rights to the songs. Despite being unsuccessful, the actor allegedly went ahead and used the songs.

The Bengaluru police is investigating the matter, and a notice was issued to Rakshit seeking a response.

Rakshit shares open letter

After news broke of the FIR being filed, the National Film Award-winner’s production house shared an open letter on social media addressing the allegations. Paramvah Studios included clips from the film to show how the song was used.

Their statement read, “A schoolgirl sings one of the songs in her class during a scene, and a short clip of the second song plays on a TV in another scene.” They also admitted to approaching MRT Music before the film’s release, but claimed that the quoted price was too high and non-negotiable.

“Is this really copyright infringement?” the studio questioned, adding, “If it is, what should we pay? We were quoted an exorbitant price by MRT. If it is not, how do we handle such harassment from music companies?”

They also stated that they will fight the case in court, “Not just for us, but for every filmmaker who might face similar challenges. We hold your support close to our hearts as we navigate this issue.”

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