FIR Against Google CEO Sundar Pichai, YouTube MD Gautam Anand And Others In Copyright Infringement Case

The FIR was registered following a Magistrate's order under section 156(3) of the CrPC on a private complaint filed by producer Suneel Darshan regarding his 2017 film "Ek Haseena Thi Ek Deewana Tha" being illegally uploaded on YouTube.

"There is a prima-facie case of infringement of the various copyright works...Now a days piracy and infringement of copyright has become a menace, due to rapid advancement of technology and therefore a huge loss of money accrues to the Film & TV Industry causing a heavy loss to the economy and therefore there is a need to curb such menace," Addl Chief Metropolitan Magistrate AA Panchbhai observed.

The MIDC Police recorded the FIR for offences under Sections 51, 63 and 69 of the Copyright Act. Apart from Pichai and Anand, the other accused include Google's grievance officer Joe Grier and executives Namrata Rajkumar, Pawan Agarwal and Chaintanya Prabhu.

Darshan, through his lawyer Aditya Chitale submitted that he is a filmmaker for the past 30 years. He alleged illegal gain by allowing the uploading of his films on Youtube. Chitale submitted that Darshan had not assigned the rights of his movie to anyone, despite which others were gaining from it.

He further alleged that the companies were generating hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue during and after the broadcast of these films. He had also claimed that the content was not taken down despite several emails.

"Since the copyrights of the films were exclusively vested with complainant and the accused were not ready to discontinue exploitation of the said films from their platforms, hence complainant had also filed Civil Suit….," the Magistrate noted.

The order further records that after the suit was decided in Darshan's favour he had sent a legal notice in May 2021, calling upon them to provide documentary proof of steps taken by [them] to conduct a "due diligence." However, no response was received, the order notes.

The court observed that commercial exploitation under the garb of fair use needed to be prevented.

"The protection of copyright, so as the protection of other intellectual properties is considered as a form of property worthy of special protection because it is seen as benefiting society as a whole and stimulating further creativity and competition in the public interest," the court observed.

"Complaint reveals prima-facie an information relating to the commission of an offence punishable u/s. 63 r/w section 51 r/w. 69 of the Copyright Act, 1957, which are cognizable. Hence, it is necessary that such offence be investigated by the police. Matter be sent for investigation to M.I.D.C. Police Station U/Sec.156(3) of Cr.P.C. on due P.F. The concerned police station to register the F.I.R. immediately first, then, complete the investigation and file final report in this case. The matter is disposed off."