Mumbai Police on Wednesday booked Google CEO Sundar Pichai and five other company officials for Copyright Act violation. “On directions of a court, a case has been registered against Google CEO Sundar Pichai and five other company officials for Copyright Act violation,” said Mumbai police.
The case has been registered following the complaint lodged by film director Suneel Darshan who has alleged that Google allowed unauthorized persons to upload his film `Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha` on YouTube. Further investigation into the matter is underway.
The court found merit in the complaint, which sought the registering of an FIR under section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, which states that “any Magistrate empowered under section 190 (which deals with ‘Cognizance of offences by Magistrates’) may order such an investigation as above-mentioned”.
In essence, Darshan’s complaint is that his film ‘Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha’ received “billions of views” after it was uploaded on YouTube, for which he did not get the monetary benefit. Darshan has the copyright for the film, and it is, therefore, illegal that someone else should upload the film and earn revenue.
