Sundar Pichai, the Indian-origin CEO of Google, has landed into legal trouble after filmmaker Suneel Darshan filed a complaint against him alleging copyright infringement.
The complaint said that the rights of the Bollywood film ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ have not been sold by Sundar Pichai to any party, however, social media platforms like YouTube have been streaming it.
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In a statement, filmmaker Suneel Darshan said, “I hold Sundar Pichai responsible since he represents Google. I have tracked over 1 billion views of my ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ have been recorded. No action has been taken despite this concern being raised with the company”, according to reports from NDTV.
At least five other people, in addition to Google boss Sundar Pichai, have also been entangled in the legal trouble. These included head of YouTube Gautam Anand, Grievance office Joe Grier and four employees Google have been named in the FIR.
Suneel Darshan said that clips from ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ are being used on social media platforms “blatantly”. He also alleged that a huge sum of money is being brought in after the film was uploaded illegally.
Suneel Darshan told IANS in a statement, “My faith and belief in the advancement of technology are implicit, but the infringement of my rights is a cause of grave concern.”
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He added, “My entire copyrighted movie, apart from its songs and sequences from it, have been uploaded and monetised, and I have helplessly watched such illegal acts.”
‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’, a 2017 Bollywood flick, was directed by Suneel Darshan and featured actors like Natasha Fernandez, Shiv Darshan, and Upen Patel.