Film-Maker Gets Two Years in Copyright Infringement Case
Patna: May 5, 2007
A Patna court on Saturday sent Girish Ranjan, 72, the first producer to make a Hindi film in Bihar, to two years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs.5,000 in a case involving copyright infringement of late Patna author Himanshu Srivastava.
The case against Ranjan, the former director of Patna Doordarshan, was filed by the author's son Padmasambhav Srivastava who alleged the film-maker stole the story 'Lohey ke Pankh' without first acquiring proper rights to make a television film on it.
After hearing the arguments from both the defense and prosecution attorneys, first class Judicial Magistrate Shobhakant Mishra found Ranjan guilty under Copyright Acts 68 and 68a and ordered the film-maker jailed for two years.
The story was originally published in 1957.
The defendant's argument that he had acquired the rights to the story prior to the death of Himanshu Srivastava was rejected by the court after he failed to provide any evidence of the aforementioned.
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