Sona Mohapatra, Ram Sampath’s version of Odisha folk song ‘Rangabati’ in legal trouble

According to OdishaSunTimes.com, “In his legal notice, Supreme Court lawyer Sagar Kumar Pradhan, representing legal firm P Sagar and Co, has said that the copyright of the song lies with Prabhudatta Pradhan and Mitrabhanu Gauntia and no permission had been sought from them for reproduction of the song.”

The remake of the song is in violation of the Copyright Act, the notice said. In view of this, the telecast of the song should be stopped immediately and the defendants must settle the defamation suit amounting to Rs 1 crore within 15 days, it added.

If they fail to comply with the notice, the complainants will take legal recourse against those made party to the case, the petitioner added in the notice.

“It has hurt the feelings of not just me and others involved with the song, but the people of the entire area. No one has the right to fiddle with folk traditions and culture,” said Jitendra Haripal, who shot into national and even international fame for his rendition of the song.

In the remake, ‘Rangabati’ is mixed with ‘Bande Utkal Janani’, an Odia patriotic song, sung by India’s Raw Star fame Rituraj Mohanty. While Sona and chorus take care of the Sambalpuri part of the song, the duo Tony Sebastian and Rajesh Radhakrishnan sing the Tamil rap.

Watch the song here:

The song has become immensely popular and has gone viral.

The lead singer Sona Mohapatra later took to Twitter to clarify their stand on this issue.

Hv received confirmed word that this controversy has been politically motivated.A gentleman who lost the last election & wants to ride on(1)

— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) July 6, 2015

2) ride on the publicity of the controversy & be seen as the saviour of the Koshal/Sambalpur region is behind this so called legal ‘tangle’

— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) July 6, 2015

There are many more positive ways to get a spotlight on an ignored region , culture or language & our’s was one such attempt.(3) #Rangabati

— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) July 6, 2015

Unfortunately even media feeds of negativity & controversy . Reason why 9 out of 10 headlining stories full of the same (4) #Rangabati

— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) July 6, 2015

I could be talking to every channel & paper that has called me all of Sunday, making merry of the publicity opportunity.Did not.Will not (5)

— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) July 6, 2015

Odisha as an entity & her music in particular are of interest to me.Unrest for a separate state is news & politicising the arts is pathetic

— Sona Mohapatra (@sonamohapatra) July 6, 2015

Watch the original song here: