PESHWA BAJIRAO’S DESCENDANT SENDS LEGAL NOTICE TO MAKERS OF THE FILM ‘PANIPAT’ OVER KRITI SANON’S DIALOGUE
As per reports, Descendant of Peshwa Bajirao has taken objection over Kriti Sanon’s dialogue in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s upcoming directorial venture ‘Panipat’. In the film, Kriti plays Arjun Kapoor’s wife, Parvatibai and in the trailer, before Arjun is leaving for the battle, she says, “Maine suna hai Peshwa jab akele muhim par jaate hain to ek Mastani ke saath laut te hain (I have heard whenever Peshwa leaves for a battle alone, he returns with a Mastani).”
The eighth-generation descendant of the Peshwa, Nawabzada Shadab Ali Bahadur has found this dialogue objectionable and in bad taste as according to him it presents a bad picture of not only Mastani Sahiba but also of the Peshwa to the audience and to young minds unaware of Maratha history.
He has sent notices to the producers and director to remove the objectionable portion and make necessary changes, failing which he will approach the court.
MADRAS HIGH COURT PERMITS JAYALALITHA’S NIECE TO PROCEED FILING SUIT AGAINST MAKERS OF ‘THAILAVI’
In the suit filed by Deepa Jayakumar, niece of Jayalalitha (read details here), an application was moved by her against producer and director of Kangana Ranaut starrer ‘Thailivi’. In the application, it has been averred that the respondents 1 to 3 have announced the production of a bilingual film / web serial using the life history of Dr. J. Jayalalitha at Chennai within the jurisdiction of the Court and therefore the entire cause of action arose within the jurisdiction of the Court. However, this application has been filed as an abundant caution as the respondents 1 and 2 (Mr. A.L Vijay, Mr. Vishnu Vardhan Induri) are residing / caring on business outside the jurisdiction of the Madras High Court.
The Respondent No. 3 (Gowtham Menon), director of web-series ‘Queen’ allegedly based on life of Jayalalitha contested the application for misjoinder and non-joinder of necessary parties as he is merely a director of the web-series and that the respondents No. 1 and 2 have no role in the web-series.
In the counter affidavit filed by the second respondent, it is stated that the movie “Thalivi” has no connection with the third respondent and the film is directed by the first respondent. Likewise, the second respondent has no connection with the web series that is taken by the third respondent. Hence, no cause of action arose to file a suit against the second respondent. It was further submitted that several publications have been made in the past about the life story of Dr.J.Jayalalitha and therefore the question of privacy does not arise in this case.
Without getting into the merits of the case, the Court was of the view that the application filed by Deepa Jayakumar should be allowed.
Read order here.
GOVINDA, JACKIE SHROFF FINED RS 20,000 OVER MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENT IN RELATION TO A PAIN RELIEF OIL
In July 2012, Abhinav Agarwal, a Muzaffarnagar based lawyer had ordered a pain relief oil for his father, Brijbushan Agarwal for Rs. 3600 after seeing an advertisement that promised full refund if the user fails to get visible results in 15 days. As there was no pain relief even after 10 days, he contacted a representative of the Madhya Pradesh based company who advised him to return the amount and even started harassing Agarwal when he contacted them again. He had said that he had bought the product because celebrities like Govinda and Jackie Shroff were promoting it. The company had promised complete relief in 15 days. Five years after complaining against the herbal oil firm and its two celebrity brand ambassadors mentioning that the oil endorsed by the actors did not provide pain relief in 15 days as claimed in the advertisement, a consumer court in Muzzaffarnagar ordered all five stakeholders- the company, Govinda, Jackie Shroff, Telemart Shopping Network Pvt Ltd. and Max communications to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation to the complainant. It also ordered the firm to return Rs. 3600 paid by the man with an interest of 9 % p.a. along with other expenses.
‘MARDAANI 2’ DRAWS LEGAL NOTICE DEMANDING CHANGE IN CITY NAME
A local corporator Gopal Manda had sent a legal notice relating to the film “Mardaani 2” to the CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi, the film’s producer Aditya Chopra, director Gopi Puthran, and the information and broadcasting ministry, appealing them to remove the name of the city from the film. The controversy had started after the trailer of the film was released online. The trailer, which shows a serial rapist and murderer in Kota, who targets young girls in the city, declares that the film is inspired by true events. Rani Mukerji returns as the fearless cop Shivani Shivaji Roy, who is determined to catch the serial rapist within two days. The objection has primarily been raised because Mardaani 2 is about a killer who never existed in Kota and yet trailer claims the film is inspired by true events. Kota has been identified as an educational city, and connecting the city to crime is unwanted for, as far as the notice claims. The notice demands to change the name of Kota in the film, with the claim that it defames the name of the city. Unless the name of the city is removed, screenings will be blocked and the matter will be taken to High Court, the notice warns to the concerned parties, according to lawyer Ashwin Garg.
BUSINESSMAN FILES PIL AGAINST RGV’S ‘KAMMA RAJYAMLO KADAPA REDLU’ MOVIE IN TELANGANA HIGH COURT
A businessman has approached the Telangana High Court on 26th November seeking direction to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) not to issue censor certificate to Ram Gopal Varma directed Telugu movie Kamma Rajyamlo Kadapa Redlu. Petitioner M. Indrasena Chowdary filed the petition on the ground that the trailers of the movie that had been circulated in social media had content which was humiliating and insulting the Kamma community. The film also had roles similar to real life personalities like former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, his son N. Lokesh, and Tollywood star Pawan Kalyan. The petitioner alleged that the movie depicted that the director and producer of the film wanted to defame the Kamma community. The petitioner while mentioning a song ‘Pappu Laanti Abbayi’, whose trailer got widely circulated in the social media, said that it was aimed at Mr. Chandrababu Naidu and his son Lokesh. He further added that the song would show them in poor light, and amounted to humiliation. He informed the court that a memorandum was already submitted to the CBFC not to issue censor certificate to the film, and not to allow its release in theatres or social media platforms.
As per reports, the Telangana High Court has stalled the release of Ram Gopal Varma’s latest film Kamma Raajyamlo Kadapa Redlu. While the political satire was scheduled for a worldwide release on November 29, the High Court ordered the Censor Board (CBFC) to take a week’s time, watch the film, take all the objections into consideration and then, award a censor certificate. It also instructed the director to change its title and forward the film for censor.
VIVO, OGILVY RESOLVE ‘PLAGIARISM’ ROW, SETTLE MATTER OUT OF COURT
Ogilvy had pulled Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to Court on alleged ‘plagiarism’, following which the matter has been settled out of court. Kunal Jeswani who is the Chief Executive of India of Ogilvy had said that the leadership of both companies have reached an agreement and the matter has been resolved. The Bombay High Court in an earlier judgment had called out Chinese mobile brand Vivo for airing a TV ad which was similar to a proposal given by Ogilvy during a pitch last year. O&M had accused Vivo of airing the ad featuring Aamir Khan which was allegedly based on its idea but created by another agency called Dentsu Impact. Ogilvy had claimed losses of Rs 1-1.5 crore on a film estimated to have cost Rs 50 crore in creative, production and media. The court in October had then directed Vivo to either deposit Rs 1 crore or furnish a bank guarantee from ‘a reputed bank’ within a week, if it wants to continue airing the ad on television. The matter was scheduled for hearing on November 22.
SALMAN KHAN’S DABANGG 3 LANDS IN NEW CONTROVERSY AS A HINDU OUTFIT DEMANDS CBFC TO HALT FILM’S CERTIFICATION
Salman Khan’s Dabangg 3 is around the corner of its release. The film is just 20 days away from its release it has landed into a new controversy as a Hindu outfit named Hindu Janajagruti Samiti has demanded CBFC to halt the certification of the film. As per the Samiti, the title track of the film, Hud Hud Dabangg, has hurt the sentiments of Hindus as the makers have degraded the image of Sadhus by showing them dancing with Salman Khan on the river banks. They also had the objection where Salman Khan is seeking blessings from the three characters dressed as the holy trinity – Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma in the scenes.
SUPREME COURT ON LOVEYATRI ROW: NO COERCIVE ACTION WILL BE TAKEN AGAINST SALMAN KHAN
The Supreme Court on November 29 said that no coercive action will be taken against Bollywood actor Salman Khan on a complaint filed against him for allegedly hurting religious sentiment by producing Bollywood movie ‘Loveyatri’. Several private criminal complaints were filed in 2018 against the movie alleging that its name has hurt the religious sentiment of Hindus. .The film which was earlier named as ‘Loveratri’, but was changed to ‘Loveyatri’ by the producers keeping in mind that earlier name sounded like “navratri.”
TV CHANNELS AIRED ADULT CONTENT, ACTION TAKEN IN 124 CASES
In a written reply in the Lok Sabha on November 29, the MIB said that the government has even stopped broadcasts by private television channels for airing adult content. The reply from the ministry came in response to a question of BSP MP from Jaunpur Shyam Singh Yadav who asked what action is being taken by the ministry to stop the broadcast of obscene content?
In its reply, the ministry shared the details of the action taken against the TV channels since 2016.
The reply said that action has been taken in 124 cases against private satellite TV channels, an advisory has been issued in 46 cases whereas a warning has been issued 39 times. Apart from this, the channels were asked to run an apology 30 times while in nine cases the broadcast was stopped. The ministry said that it is expected that all the TV channels will comply with the 2011 guidelines of The Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995.
If any channel violates these guidelines, the Central government has the right to stop the broadcast of the channel. The government can issue an advisory or warning and ask the channels to run an apology. If the channels still violate the guidelines then their broadcast is stopped.
PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU SETS UP FACT-CHECKING UNIT TO COMBAT FAKE NEWS RELATED TO GOVT
In a bid to combat fake news, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has set up a fact-checking unit to verify news related to the government’s ministries, departments and schemes. The Ministry on November 28, urged people to email snapshots of any “dubious material” they come across on any platform including social media and it will get it checked.
“Received a forward that looks too good to be true!!! or maybe came across a piece of news that you want verified !! Send it across and we will Fact Check it for you, no questions asked,” the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said on its official Twitter handle.
“Ever wondered if a WhatsApp forward is true or just fake news? Or if a tweet/ FB (Facebook) post is real? Fret no more! it said with the hashtag ‘PIB Fact Check’.
It also adds that only material related with government ministries, departments and schemes will be fact-checked.
GOVERNMENT PROPOSES TO REPLACE ARCHAIC PRESS AND REGISTRATION OF BOOKS (PRB) ACT, 1867 TO REGULATE DIGITAL MEDIA
On 25 November, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) released a draft Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill (RPP Bill) for public consultation. Once finalised, this Bill is meant to replace the existing law in place for registration of newspapers in the country, the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867 (PRB Act).
According to the MIB, the salient features of the draft Bill include:
(i)The Bill proposes to remove the existing provisions relating to registration of Books and matters connected thereto.
(ii) The Bill proposes to do away with the existing procedure of furnishing of declaration by publishers/ printers before the District Magistrate and its subsequent authentication.
(iii) The process of title and registration of periodicals including newspapers is proposed to be effected centrally by the Press Registrar General as a simultaneous process.
(iv) The Bill enables the Central Government and the State Government to frame appropriate rules/ regulations to regulate the criteria/ conditions for issuing Government advertisements in newspapers, accreditation of newspapers and such other facilities for newspapers.
(v) The Bill proposes to have a simple system of registration of e-papers.
(vi) The Bill proposes to do away with the earlier provision under the PRB Act, 1867 of prosecution of publishers.
One of the key concerns of the draft Bill which has drawn flak from the digital sector is the registration requirements of periodicals and the lack of clarity on whether this would include anything which is printed on paper and is distributed online or other online news sharing platforms including blogs.
SPOTIFY FACES $1 BILLION LAWSUIT OVER INTENTIONAL COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT, DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES
Pro Music LLC and Sosa Entertainment LLC have filed a suit alleging that Spotify has failed to pay on 550,000,000 musical streams. A major part of the non-payment stems from a contested removal of content, starting in 2017. For the content removal, it seemed like Spotify was seizing catalogue based on certain rules and regulations, but both PRO and Sosa contested that such removal was unjustified. In May 2017, Spotify removed all of Plaintiffs’ songs from its digital music streaming platform without giving any advance notice to them, without giving a reason to the Plaintiff why their songs were removed, without giving Plaintiffs an opportunity to address the issue, without providing Plaintiffs with an opportunity to cure whatever the reason for removal, and not adhering to the rules, procedures, policies and obligations to which Spotify holds itself out to the public. Pro Music Rights intended to ask a Florida jury at trial to hold Spotify responsible for its reprehensible conduct of intellectual property infringement and unfair and deceptive trade practices as said by Jake Noch, the founder and CEO of Pro Music Rights. The case, Pro Music Rights LLC et al v. Spotify AB, was filed earlier on November 25th in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
