Copyright violation: Court asks Twitter to block Cong, Bharat Jodo Yatra accounts

BENGALURU: A dedicated commercial court for Bengaluru Urban District on Monday directed microblogging site Twitter to block the handles of the Indian National Congress (INC) and its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' till the next date of hearing.
Also, the court ordered removing three tweets posted from the party. The Twitter handles are '@INCIndia' and '@BharatJodo'.

The court order came after a suit filed by MRT Music which is the copyright holder of the sound tracks from the film 'KGF Chapter 2'.

It is alleged that its copyright has been infringed upon and sought a permanent injunction against the INC and its leaders from using its copyrighted music.

“Plaintiff has specifically produced CD showing the side by side file i.e., original version of his copyrighted work with that of the illegally synchronised version. These prima facie materials available before this court at this stage establish that if same is encouraged, plaintiff who is in the business of acquiring cinematography films, songs, music albums... will be put to irreparable injury and further same leads to encouraging the piracy at large,” the court said in its order.

The court also appointed a commissioner to audit and preserve the evidence on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube.

The Congress, meanwhile, said it was pursuing all legal remedies at its disposal after a court in Bengaluru directed Twitter to block its official handle and that of its Bharat Jodo Yatra over alleged music copyright infringement.

The party said it was not present during the proceedings and has not received the order.

“We have read on social media about an adverse order from a Bengaluru court against INC & BJY SM handles,” the Congress said on Twitter.

“We were neither made aware of nor present at court proceedings. No copy of the order has been received. We are pursuing all the legal remedies at our disposal,” the party said.