Meher Afroz Shaon and Chanchal Chowdhury. COURTESY
Meher Afroz Shaon and Chanchal Chowdhury's cover of `Juboti Radhe’, stirred controversy when Sherpur-based folk band Shorolpur claimed that the song was their original track, and unless the video of the cover was taken down from all social media platforms, they would be forced to take legal action.
The video, which was uploaded on IPDC's Youtube channel, was immediately removed after the copyright infringement claim.
`Juboti Radhe’ was copyrighted in Shorolpur's name, though multiple people claimed that the band stole lines from "Shorboto Mongolo Radha", a popular song by a Mymensingh-based lyricist, and added them to their song.
Bangladesh Copyright Office investigated the matter and revoked Shorolpur's copyright claim over `Juboti Radhe’, according to reports.
The office authorities sent letters to Bangla Academy, Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Jahangirnagar University, and the Folklore Department of Rajshahi University.
All the universities confirmed that out of the 32 lines in `Shorboto Mongolo Radha’, 12 have been plagiarised by Shorolpur.
Earlier on, Shorolpur's vocalist Marzia Amin Turin and guitarist Tariqul Islam Tapan claimed in a video that `Juboti Radhe’ is their original track, and they have legal documents in this regard.
Singer Sumi Mirza first created confusion about the song, when she published it under the banner of Laser Vision, claiming the lyrics to be `collected’. Sumi claimed that the song, `Juboti Radhe’, was of the genre Mahua, Goalini, or Pala Geeti. After Shorolpur contacted her regarding the matter, Sumi's reluctance to cooperate forced the band to take the matter into court.
Sumi failed to prove her claims in court, and later, the Copyright Office granted Shorolpur permission to copyright the song in their name.
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