| NEW
DELHI: The Bombay High Court has slapped public broadcaster Doordarshan with a
fine of Rs 1 million for plagiarising documentary film-maker Anand Patwardhan's
film Waves of Revolution. Patwardhan
had filed an infringement case against Doordarshan, Prasar Bharati and others
in court in 2004 for unauthorisedly using footage from his film in another documentary.
Patwardhan's
film was based on the Bihar movement led by Jai Prakash Narayan and depicted the
students' revolt, which was repressed by the declaration of emergency.
Speaking to indiantelevision.com Patwardhan said, “Doordarshan had acquired
the rights for Rs 500 for each telecast. However in 2003 when BJP was in power,
the broadcaster had made another film on the emergency which propagated Hindutva.
The film had shown representatives from various Hindu parties as the real heroes
of the emergency and for that DD used footage from my documentary which was a
total misrepresentation of the truth.” DD
had commissioned Ashok Srivastava to make a film on the National Emergeny (1975),
which was then telecast on the channel on 26 June, 2003, the anniversary of the
declaration of Emergency.
Srivastava, who is an employee of DD, used footage from Patwardhan's film without
permission or credit. And finally on 31 March, 2009 Justice Roshan Dalvi declared
it as an act of copyright infringement as the plagiarised footage comprises 86
seconds of the hour-long film. “It’s
ironical, while at one side film-makers like us are constantly involved in a battle
with DD so that the broadcast telecasts our films. On the other hand, DD lands
up misusing our films. I hope with this judgement the pubcaster learns a lesson,”
added Patwardhan. Prasar
Bharati CEO BS Lali was unavailable for comment. | 
