More copycat songs

Another copy cat song. The music and rhythms are very similar.

And this one comes with a lawsuit!

And actually that music composer, Pritam copied music from more than one song!

That fella is simply a serial plagiarizer of music. Did he thought he would never be found out or caught?

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The New Paper
21 Aug 2008

Copycat track?

Sony BMG Taiwan alleges Bollywood producer plagiarised their song, but he denies it

By Sheela Narayanan and Chang May Choon

IMITATION may be the sincerest form of flattery. But not when copyright is concerned.

Sony BMG Taiwan has issued a legal letter to a Bollywood film company, Tips Industries, for allegedly plagiarising a Wang Lee Hom tune. The record label claims that the song, Zara Zara Touch Me, is a copy of Lee Hom's Deep In The Bamboo Grove from his 2004 album Shangri-La.

The song is featured in the Hindi movie Race, which stars some of Bollywood's hottest stars, Katrina Kaif, Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Akshaye Khanna. The song is written by music director Pritam Chakraboty.

Both Tips Industries and Sony BMG Taiwan confirmed that a lawyer's letter was sent earlier this month.

Damages

Tips Industries spokesman Mr I.T Gurusani told The New Paper that the company was investigating the matter and declined to provide any details.

Sony BMG Taiwan is seeking NT10 million ($451,193) in damages. According to a press release sent out to the Taiwanese media recently, the damages are for:

1. Using the song without authorisation, filling in Indian lyrics and claiming it as an original composition
2. Turning the song into part of a movie, complete with its own music video
3. Playing the song on TV and radio stations
4. Releasing the song in various forms, including ringtone and Internet download
5. Selling the song in the form of cassette tape, CD, VCD and DVD.

When The New Paper tried to contact Pritam in Mumbai, his manager said he was too busy to comment.

But in an interview with the Hindustan Times recently, Pritam said: 'I'm blamed for plagiarism, but only my producers know that even if I'm working on a cover version, I always insist on permission or copyright.'

However, a check of the Race soundtrack album shows that Lee Hom was not credited for the song.

Lee Hom told the Central News Agency in Taiwan that he had heard Pritam's song and found the melody and arrangement similar to his tune. He said he was not unhappy about it as 'to a composer, to be copied means acknowledgement, because only the good things will get copied'. Many of his songs have been remade before, and he's quite open to the idea as long as he's informed beforehand, he said.

Decision to sue

However, he pointed out that plagiarism is illegal and because Sony BMG Taiwan owns the song, he supports its decision to sue.

But some are questioning why it's taken so long for Sony BMG to act. Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times even suggested that the legal suit was a publicity stunt to generate attention for Lee Hom's upcoming Taipei concert next month.

Race was released in March this year and the soundtrack was out a month earlier.

Sony BMG Taiwan explained to Liberty Times that it did not realise the problem until last month when a Lee Hom fan spotted the Zara Zara Touch Me video online and notified the label. It added that it took a month of investigations, collection of evidence and correspondence with Sony BMG India before it decided to take legal action.

Prior allegations

Pritam is no stranger to allegations of plagiarism.

In 2006, Indonesian band Peterpan claimed that he copied its song Tak Bisakah (Unable) for the soundtrack of the Bollywood movie soundtrack, Woh Lamhe (Those Moments). The band claimed that the music was lifted for the song Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai (I Am Smitten), sung by playback singer KK (Krishna Kumar Kunnath).

Peterpan was not credited in the film's soundtrack album.


Tak Bisakah -Peterpan


Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai (Woh Lamhey)

Tak Bisakah was originally composed for the soundtrack of a 2005 Indonesian film, Alexandria.

Peterpan's manager, Ms Febi Lubis, 32, told The New Paper that the band's recording company had sent a lawyer's letter to Pritam and the movie's producers and was negotiating for compensation but nothing had come out of it.

In April this year, Pritam was also accused of lifting, note-for-note, a Bengali song for another recent Bollywood film, Bhram.

In an interview with Bollywood portal IndiaFm, he denied that he lifted the song and claimed that the original composer was credited in the album. No legal action was taken.

Serial plagiarism in the movie industry is reportedly rampant as music directors are constantly pressured to come up with hits for the 1,000-plus films released every year in India.

Bollywood music directors like Anu Malik and Bappi Lahiri have often been accused of lifting without crediting or paying copyright to their 'inspired' sources.

Zara Zara Touch me

Deep Within the Bamboo Grove - Wang Leehom
(Click on the title as the video cannot be embedded.)