Google CEO Sundar Pichai, 5 others booked for violating Copyright Act after Suneel Darshan files complaint

Filmmaker Suneel Darshan has registered a case against Google CEO Sundar Pichai, YouTube managing director (Asia Pacific) Gautam Anand and four others for copyright infringement.

Darshan claims that the YouTube platform, which is owned by Google, has allowed his film Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha (2017) to be streamed for audiences against his wishes. 

The Mumbai police registered a first information report (FIR) on Wednesday on a magistrate's orders under section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure on a complaint by the filmmaker. The FIR has been recorded under sections 51, 63 and 69 of the Copyright Act. 

The legal website LiveLaw.in quoted additional chief metropolitan magistrate AA Panchbai as stating, "There is a prima facie case of infringement of various copyright works. Nowadays piracy and infringement of copyright have become a menace, due to the rapid advancement of technology and, therefore, a huge loss of money accrues to the film and TV industry causing a heavy loss to the economy. There is a need to curb such a menace." 

The FIR also names Google's grievance officer Joe Grier and executives Namrata Rajkumar, Pawan Agarwal, and Chaitanya Prabhu.

Darshan had also filed a civil suit in 2011 in the district court of Gurgaon against the copyright infringement of his works on Google and YouTube. The filmmaker had filed for a permanent injunction against Google India, YouTube, and their parent company in the USA.

In December 2019, the court ruled in favour of Darshan, who was awarded Rs50,000 in damages. 

The magistrate observed that after the suit was decided in Darshan's favour, the filmmaker had written to the company demanding proof of due diligence being carried out, but received no reply. The FIR was filed in view of the consistent lapses with regard to Darshan's films. 

Incidentally, Sundar was awarded the Padma Bhushan at Republic Day along with another tech titan, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.