Javed Akhtar and Salim Khan, the writer duo of the original Zanjeer had been rather miffed with Amit Mehra, who with nothing more than their 'blessings' had gone ahead and started shooting the remake.
Earlier Akhtar had even sought legal help regarding the issue. And now, the veteran writers have jointly sent a legal notice to Mehra claiming royalties for the script that they had penned decades back.
Javed Akhtar, who had been on the committee that reviewed the latest Copyright Amendment Bill of 2011, has been the first one to stand up for the rights that the Act ensures.
The Bill upholds the Rights of an author in an entire product such as films. And though Amit Mehra, son of producer Prakash Mehra may have the rights of the film, sharing royalties with the scriptwriters becomes essential.
When contacted, Akhtar told, “We have hired a well-known Delhi based legal firm, Luthra & Luthra. We have also sent a notice to Amit Mehra. We have asked him to start a negotiation. He had earlier met us thrice and every time avoided discussing royalties.”
Mehra's public announcement about gathering Salim-Javed's blessings for free too seems to have bothered the writer. “And now, he has gone ahead and started shooting for the film. We have sent him a legal notice yesterday,” said Akhtar and added, “Salim Khan and I are on the same page regarding the matter. Solicitor Ameet Datta is representing us jointly. In a few days we will hold a press conference to discuss the issue with everyone.”
“Maintaining legal control of your work is critical and this is what the Copyright Act intends. The simple thing that one has to understand is that when the screenplay was written - it was for being developed into a particular film.
While the producer does retain the overall rights for the product - which is the film, one cannot deny that the creative rights of the screenplay writer cannot be ignored,” said solicitor Ameet Datta of Luthra & Luthra, Law Offices, Delhi, which is handling the case of Salim-Javed.
Explaining the need for consent of the authors for using the screenplay for a film remake is besides the point, Datta said that across the world such norms are followed.
“It is unfortunate that the film industry in India has ignored the same and for long. But in our opinion it is a fit case that the duo is contesting for one of their most popular screenplays. They are right in saying that not only their consent should be taken for remaking a film based on their screenplay as apart from. Copyright ownership, the authors also retained moral rights on the screenplay, but they should also be consulted on their royalties, which otherwise if their creative rights were protected-would anyway come to them,” added Datta.
When contacted, Amit Mehra refused to comment.
source: http://mumbaimirror.com/article/30/20120419201204192127273285126929e/More-legal-woes-for-Zanjeer-remake.html
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