Mumbai Police register FIR against comedian Vir Das, Netflix on charges of copyright infringement

PTI

Mumbai, November 8

The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against stand-up comedian Vir Das, two others and online streaming platform Netflix on charges of copyright rules violation following a complaint by a producer, an official said on Tuesday.

Noted theatre producer Ashvin Gidwani in his police complaint said that in October 2010, his company signed a contract with Das to produce a show.

In January 2020, when Gidwani saw the promo of a new show of Das on Netflix, the producer realised that some content had allegedly been copied from the previous show (of 2010) with a few changes, the official from Cuffe Parade police station said.

Based on Gidwani's complaint, a case was registered on November 4 against Das, two others and Netflix service under the Copyright Act, the official said.

No arrest had been made so far, he said, adding that an investigation is on.

On Monday, right-wing group 'Hindu Janajagruti Samiti' approached the police in Bengaluru, seeking cancellation of a show by Das, alleging that it would hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and show India in bad light.

Last year also, police complaints were filed against Das over one of his videos, following which the comedian had issued a statement saying his comments were not intended to insult the country. 

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