Krazzy 4 issue refuses to die down

The last two days have been extremely eventful for the Roshan family. We've all heard the news about the Krazzy 4 plagiarism case (music composer/producer Ram Sampat dragged the Roshans to court, claiming they had blatantly lifted part of his jingle "The Thump" composed for Hrithik Roshan for the Sony Ericsson TVC) and the court verdict ordering Rakesh Roshan to pay Ram Sampat Rs 2 crores as damages. This morning, Mumbai Mirror carried a very interesting piece on it's front page with Ram Sampath's take on the entire situation.

"I am not shy about the amount of money." Said Sampath. "We deliberately kept the figure for damages huge because this is a first. There will be a second case and a third case too. The idea is to make people think ten times before plagiarising other people's work so nonchalantly."

Indeed, Mr Sampath makes a very strong case and although we're all for originality and justice, we received a statement from Mr Rakesh Roshan that put a little twist into the tale. In his statement, the director talks about the case, the 'missing' NOC certificate (which has been scanned and mailed across to all channels) and the final outcome of the movie. Excerpts from Roshan's statement (which comes with an attachment containing the controversial NOC from Sony Ericsson).

The Director's Take:

"I have been observing with great feeling and anguish, some false and frivolous reporting about a matter related to the music of my film Krazzy 4. With a view to clarifying the position and remove any wrong and unworthy impression created by such an irresponsible and utterly misleading statement, I think it is absolutely necessary to inform everyone what the facts on record really are. This statement, besides unfolding the facts, will serve as a timely warning to my fraternity.

I liked the music of the ad in which had Hrithik as brand ambassador for Sony Ericsson. I contacted the brand to grant me the permission to use some portion of the music. I have been issued and can produce the the letter dated December 13, 2007 which states their permission.

But to my utter dismay, I was shocked on March 24, 2008 when I received a notice from the solicitors of Ram Sampat containing allegations of infringement of his work. I contacted Sony Ericsson and was told that they issued the letter by mistake and infact they didn't have the rights to do so.