Block Congress Twitter Account, Says Court, Copyright Violations

A Bengaluru court has ordered the temporary blocking of the Congress's Twitter handle after a music firm filed a copyright case against the party for playing songs from the movie KGF-2 at the Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by party MP Rahul Gandhi.

M Naveen Kumar, who manages MRT music, filed the complaint against three Congress leaders including Mr Gandhi for allegedly using music from the superhit Kannada film KGF-2, which violated copyright laws, during the Bharat Jodo (unite India) yatra that travelled across Karnataka last month before moving to neighbouring Telangana.

The court also ordered temporary blocking of the Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign's Twitter handle.

The music company's manager alleged the Bharat Jodo Yatra campaign videos have songs from KGF-2.

The Congress tweeted it is not aware of the court proceedings and hasn't got any copy of the order. "We have read on social media about an adverse order from a Bengaluru court against INC and BJY SM handles. 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 Congress party tweeted, referring to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, or BJY, social media handle.

We have read on social media about an adverse order from a Bengaluru court against INC & BJY SM handles.

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.

— Congress (@INCIndia) November 7, 2022

In its order, the court said the music firm showed a CD in which the original copyrighted version was compared with the "illegally synchronised" version.

The court said the material available shows the music firm would be "put to irreparable injury" and such actions can encourage piracy.

In a first information report, or FIR, filed with the police in Bengaluru's Yashwanthpur, the music company said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted two yatra videos that used popular songs from KGF-2 without permission.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra - the Congress's campaign to lay the groundwork for its 2024 national election battle - has so far covered six states, namely Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra.