Entertainment Report :
Family members of noted writer, director and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed have served Grameenphone with a legal notice for infringing intellectual property rights by using his four iconic drama characters commercially without permission. The characters are – Baker Bhai from Kothao Keu Nei, Elachi Begum from Ayomoy, Sobhan Saheb from Bohubrihi and Taiyab Ali from Ure Jay Bok Pokkhi. Barrister Hamidul Mizbah sent a legal notice to Grameenphone (GP) on behalf of Humayun Ahmed’s wife Meher Afroz Shaon, daughter Nova Ahmed, Sheela Ahmed, Bipasha Ahmed, son Nuhash Humayun and brother Zafar Iqbal. In the legal notice,
GP has been asked to remove the episodes within three days and pay the financial compensation to the members within 15 days. Otherwise, the matter will be taken to the court, said the heirs of the late author. Reportedly, the mobile phone
operator company launched a series of promotional campaigns in July 2020, titled Kemon Achhen Tara and sponsored by GP, which was released and aired on the company’s Facebook page and YouTube
channel. GP did not take any permission or license from Humayun Ahmed’s family members or heirs
to use the aforementioned characters for the programme that have
accumulated more than three
million views on social media.
Since the mobile phone operator company did not comply with the obligations for this type of use, it resulted in a violation of the
intellectual property law.
