Copyright of Shorolpur Band's song ‘Jubati Radhe’ cancelled

In 2020, a song entitled 'Sarbat Mangal Radhe', directed by Partho Barua, was released under the patronage of IPDC Finance Limited. Complaints of copyright infringement were brought against this song by the Shorolpur Band. Eventually, in the wake of a dispute, the Bangladesh Copyright Office began an investigation into the matter.

In the investigation, the copyright office discovered that the Shorolpur Band song 'Jubati Radhe', which was released in 2018, plagiarises many lines from the song 'Sarbat Mangal Radhe', which is a widely renowned and popular song by a Mymensingh lyricist. 

Out of the 32 lines in this song, 12 have been plagiarised by the Shorolpur Band. The lines are from a rhyme in a book by Bimal Kumar Mukherjee, Gramer Chhara. 

In addition, it has also been found that 'Jubati Radhe' also has much in common with the song 'Tumi How Jamuna Radhe' from a book written by Ashutosh Mukherjee. On the basis of this evidence and for the crime of claiming originality of a plagiarised song, Shorolpur band's ownership of the song 'Jubati Radhe' has been revoked by the Bangladesh Copyright Office.

Violation of copyright law carries a minimum fine of BDT 50,000 to a maximum of BDT 4 lakh, along with imprisonment for a minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 2 years. 

As such, the Shorolpur Band, which was found guilty of violating Sections 88 and 89 of the Copyright Act, was due to be fined and jailed. However, as no claim was made against Shorolpur Band in this regard, the Bangladesh Copyright Office resolved not to take any action against the band.