Kantara Song Copyright Case: Kerala HC Stays FIR Against Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran

The Kerala High Court on Thursday stayed the FIR filed by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd against actor Prithviraj Sukumaran in connection with the alleged copyright infringement of the song “Varaharoopam” from the superhit Kannada film “Kantara”.

The court observed that as a mere distributor of the film in Kerala, the actor was “unnecessarily being dragged into” and that initiating copyright infringement proceedings against him was “stretching it too far”.

A single bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas was hearing a petition filed by the actor Prithviraj Sukumaran for quashing a FIR registered against him at the Kozhikode Town Police Station alleging that the song “Varaharoopam” from the movie “Kantara” has been plagiarized from the song “Navarasam”.

The FIR was filed in response to a private complaint filed by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd against the actor as director of the company ‘Pithviraj Productions Private Limited,’ which is the film’s distributor in Kerala.

“Prima facie, I am satisfied that petitioner as a distributor of a movie cannot be mulcted with infringement of a copyright merely for distributing a movie in one of the states in the country,” the court stated while granting a 7-day stay on the proceedings against the actor.

Senior Advocate Joseph Kodianthara, appearing for the actor, informed the court that the petitioner was only the film’s distributor.

The petitioner argued in his petition that he, as a director of the company ‘Pithviraj Productions Private Limited,’ merely facilitated the distribution of the film in Kerala and was not involved in the film’s production or music composition in any capacity.

According to the petition, Prithviraj Productions Private Limited ceased distribution of the film on November 4, 2022. The company’s role as a distributor of the film is limited to acting as an intermediary that distributes the films through theatres after obtaining distribution rights from the producer.

The well-known Malayalam actor was named as an accused in a case filed at Kozhikode Town Police Station for an alleged violation of Section 63 of the Copyright Act. The complainant claims that the song “Varaharoopam” from the film “Kantara” is an unauthorised copy of the song “Navarasam” that was shown in ‘KAPPA’ T.V. owned by Mathrubhumi and performed by the band Thaikkudam Bridge.

The first and second accused in the case are the film’s producer Vijay Kirgandur and director Rishab Shetty. The court had previously granted bail to both the Producer and Director on the specific condition that “the petitioners shall not exhibit the film ‘KANTARA’ along with the music ‘VARAHAROOPAM’ in the film till an interim order or final order after addressing infringement of copyright in this matter will be passed by a competent civil court.”. The Supreme Court later stayed the specific bail condition that the “Varaharoopam” song not be used.