Mumbai Police register FIR against comedian Vir Das, Netflix on charges of copyright infringement

The Mumbai Police have registered an FIR against stand-up comedian Vir Das, two other persons and online streaming platform Netflix on charges of copyright rules violation following a complaint by a producer, an official said on Tuesday.

Noted theatre producer Ashvin Gidwani in his police complaint said that in October 2010, his company signed a contract with Das to produce a show. In January 2020, when Gidwani saw a promo of a new show of Das on Netflix, the producer realised that some content had allegedly been copied from the previous show (of 2010) with a few changes, the official from Cuffe Parade police station said.

Based on Gidwani’s complaint, a case was registered on November 4 against Das, two other persons and Netflix service under relevant provisions of the Copyright Act, the official said.

No arrest has been made so far, he said, adding that an investigation is on into the case.

On Monday, right-wing group ‘Hindu Janajagruti Samiti’ approached the police in Bengaluru, seeking cancellation of a show by Das, alleging that it will hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and show India in bad light to the world.

Last year also, police complaints were filed against Das over one of his videos, following which the comedian had issued a statement saying his comments were not intended to insult the country.