I had written a few days ago about a case filed by writer/singer/composer Rabbi Shergill against the makers of Sorry Bhai for blatantly lifting the tune of his song Ballo. The verdict is out. The makers are being let off free, but not without a justification :
We are of the view that the main constituent of the song is the melody and some similarity in the rhythm of the accompanying acoustic guitar can’t be sufficient to infer that the music director has plagiarized Shergill’s song. In any case, even the lyrics are completely different.
Were you even listening to the tune ? (Samples of both songs can be found here).
Oh, and lyrics are completely different ? Were you a member of the CPM before this ?
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December 19, 2008 at 9:43 am
docmitasha
Ridiculous! I didn’t realize they had released the verdict. Oh this makes me so angry. I’m such a big Rabbi fan and I’m terribly outraged. When I heard this song I was shocked: Ballo is one of my favorite songs and it was almost like they desecrated it with their terrible rip off.
How sad. Rabbi must be extremely outraged and disheartened now. Why is it that artists who simply make music for the sake of their love/passion for it are not respected in India?
December 20, 2008 at 1:08 am
Deepak Iyer
What is worse is that there is no set legal procedure or even qualified judges for such issues. Ram Sampat was lucky to have gotten a judgement in his favour. Not so much for Rabbi.
And of course, the reasons given were gems in their own right.
January 27, 2009 at 6:41 am
aabhar
I’m a great rabbi fan and it literally pains to hear that some funny chap ‘gaurav dayal’ could claim a tune as rich and telling as ‘ballo’ as his own. dude..try recalling..you couldn’t have made such a tune even in your wildest dreams!! wouldn’t even comment on the decision of the juduciary..it is funny because it is bound by rules that are not universally applicable and more so because copyright is in itself a complicated matter. but seriously Mr. dayal..recall and get back to me!!!!