Dhaka Sunday, October 13, 2024

Chanchal and Shaon’s ‘Shorboto Mongolo Radha’ controversy explained


Published:
2020-10-24 06:39:43 BdST

Update:
2024-10-13 07:06:47 BdST

This is not the first time Shorolpur band is dealing with copyright issues as they are fighting a court battle with another artist Sumi Mirza over this song

From time to time, actors Meher Afroz Shaon and Chanchal Chowdhury charm the audiences by singing. They have recently collaborated and lent their voices to a music cover, arranged by Partha Barua, titled Shorboto Mongolo Radha.

Upon release, social media was awash with cheers and compliments for the duo as netizens fell in love with their take on the song and the actors' on-screen chemistry. 

However, the music video stirred up a controversy before long with a Sherpur-based folk band Shorolpur claiming that Juboti Radhe  is their original track, and unless the video was taken down from all social media platforms, they would be forced to take legal action. 

After a day of the cover's release on October 21, it was removed by IPDC amid the copyright claims.

The company stated, "It has come to our attention that one of our songs organized by the advertising company Creato and sponsored by IPDC Finance Limited has copyright issues. As a responsible organization, IPDC is committed to maintaining high morale, integrity and transparency in any institutional activities and involvement. The authorities and stakeholders will investigate the matter."

his move divided the netizens with many arguing that the song is heavily inspired by Maimansingha Gitika and thus the band has no right to claim any copyright issues. Actor Chanchal also went on record expressing his frustration. 

In a press release, Shorolpur band clarified their position.They gave a detailed account of the song’s inception.

"We started writing the lyrics from 2006. Some of the words used in the song are admittedly prevalent in our folk music and folklore tales. However, there is no direct similarity with any other song. Our band member Tariqul Islam Tapan penned and composed the song, inspired by Kirtan music.” 

“We performed it in front of a live audience for the first time back in 2010 in two concerts, and performed in front of a TV audience in 2012 on Channel 9. We registered as a band in 2012, and made sure to copyright our 12 songs including Juboti Radhe in 2018,” the statement read.

The legal rights of Juboti Radhe belong to Shorolpur Courtesy

This is not the first time the band is dealing with copyright issues as they are already in the middle of a court battle with another artist named Sumi Mirza over this song.

In a similar case, Mirza used Shorolpur's Juboti Radhe claiming the lyrics to be "collected" and allegedly insulted the band members when they asked her to take it down, which led them to take legal action. 

Back then, the Copyright Office sided with Shorolpur after two hearings and decided that Juboti Radha is indeed the band's original song. 

However, according to the band members, Mirza did not budge and continued to sing the song with a different title. Currently, the band is fighting a court battle with Mirza, the proceedings of which have been delayed due to the pandemic. 

In light of the recently published legal documents stating that the copyright of Juboti Radhe has been registered in the name of Shorolpur band, it is clear that the ownership of the song by all means belongs to Shorolpur.

 



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