Cases of Copyright Infringement in the textile industry is seen at all levels, whether the company is big or small.
In a recent case in Surat, Gujarat, India, five people landed in trouble in such a case.
Like copying a textile firm’s logo was not enough, some traders in Surat went to the extent of duplicating the publicity material, including modelling photo shoot images of a Bollywood actress used by the firm, to promote their own business.
While three people were arrested on Monday, two others involved in the case has been absconding. A case of violation of Copyright Act has been filed by Manoj Kalani, who owns Vina Fashion in the city at the Puna police station against four individuals – Dinesh Maheshwari, owner of a shop, Radha Krishna Textile Market, who is the key accused, and his associates Jayesh Virani of Ishwarn Nagar in Limbayat, Palak, who owns Orang Fashion at Bhagal, Jitu Maheshwari of Aditya Agency at Reshamwala Market and Vinod Jain, owner of Shiv Shakti Fashion at NTM Market on Ring Road. Maheshwari, Virani and Palak have been arrested.
Kalani claimed that he had hired the services of Bollywood actor Prachi Desai through an agency for marketing his textile products, which included sarees and dress material. He also claimed to have spent around Rs 5 crore for the advertisement campaign. In his complaint, he accused Maheshwari and his associates of copying his original designs as well as the publicity material that included the photographs of Desai, to market their duplicate material. They had sold these duplicate materials at a much cheaper rates, Kalani alleged.
“The complainant said that he had spent around Rs 5 crore for the entire marketing project, while the accused copied the original designs and publicity material as well. Three persons have been arrested till now,” said Puna PI V A Patel.
According to the complainant, Maheshwari is the prime accused, while others had aided him by playing different roles, such as copying the embroidery designs, reproducing the copied material, publishing the photographs.
