KARACHI: Pakistani pop singer and philanthropist Shehzad Roy is suing the Coca-Cola Company for infringement of his intellectual property rights.

According to a press release issued by Mr Roy, the company’s recent campaign for its brand Sprite — ‘Sprite Refreshment 2017’ — was originally run with Roy’s 2008 hit ‘Laga Rahe’ in early April. However, the singer alleges that he never gave official go-ahead for the use of his song in the said advertisement.

“[Coca-Cola’s ad agency] Soho Square approached my team to enter into an Agreement in order to use my song ‘Laga Rahe’ for Coca-Cola Company’s advertising campaign ‘Sprite Refreshment 2017’,” said Mr Roy in the press release.

“Soho Square and my team had exchanged drafts of this Agreement but the final contract with Soho Square had NOT been concluded and signed, owing to the fact that I had to further review and revise a few clauses of the Agreement. [...] Despite this, Soho Square and Coca-Cola Company went ahead and developed the advertisement of the brand ‘Sprite’ with my licensed song even though I was still reviewing the Agreement.”

Mr Roy has also taken exception to the distortion of his song Laga Rahe’s “powerful sociopolitical message” by the “the visual representations contained in the advertisement”.

Shehzad Roy alleges that his 2008 hit ‘Laga Rahe’ was used in a recent Sprite campaign without his official go-ahead

‘Laga Rahe’, which came out in 2008, was a satirical song that took a jab at the establishment and hinted at the injustices borne by Pakistan’s common man, who had been lulled into a state of inaction.

In the Sprite ad, however, the song is a soundtrack to a young man’s dogged quest to quench his thirst with a bottle of Sprite while his hometown is destroyed by a Godzilla-inspired monster.

Mr Roy said: “My team had also strictly conveyed to them that since the licensed song contains a very powerful sociopolitical message, it must not be distorted in any way or conceptually changed for the advertisement campaign. We also stressed that Soho Square must have the concept of the advertisement approved by me before using the licensed song for the advertisement.”

According to Mr Roy, the original ad ran for seven days from April 3 to 9 before it was pulled off the air. The ad can currently be seen on Sprite Pakistan’s social media with a different soundtrack.

“We expeditiously informed Coca-Cola Company regarding the violation contained in the aforementioned advertisement, but they failed to ensure that the advertisement was taken off air immediately. Instead, the Coca-Cola Company deliberately, wilfully and in collusion with Soho Square continued to display the said advertisement with my song for a few more days, during which time the Coca-Cola Company continued to benefit from the display of this advertisement. The fact that the advertisement with my song was halted from display after 9th April, 2017, confirms that both Soho Square and Coca-Cola Company accept and admit their liability of intellectual property rights infringement.”

Mr Roy said that he had decided to take the issue to courts for the benefit of Pakistan’s whole musical community.

“In this last decade, I’ve stood up against many social injustices but when my own intellectual property (IP) rights were violated, I was advised by my friends and colleagues not to get into a legal battle with a giant corporation. They felt that powerful individuals and organisations in Pakistan get away with illegally occupying people’s material property, so what hope would I have with claiming my intellectual property rights. But such arguments have only motivated me further to take up this case and fight for my rights, so no other artist in Pakistan has to face such blatant intellectual property rights infringement again.”

“Corporations like Coca Cola are very cautious with intellectual property rights issues in western countries and even in India because they know they will be held accountable for any infringements. Yet these same corporations act with complete impunity in Pakistan, believing that they are above the law and can get away with any infringement of intellectual property rights.”

“Such an abuse of the basic rights of artists has resulted in a decay of the arts, which are a hallmark of Pakistani culture. Hence, this is no longer only a personal fight for me but is a fight for the basic right of every artist, writer and performer in Pakistan.”

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2017