Abrarul Haq sends legal notice to Moviebox Records for 'stealing' his song in Karan Johar movie
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Singer and philanthropist Abrarul Haq on Saturday announced that his lawyers in the UK had issued a legal notice to Moviebox Records Label for the "misappropriation" of his song 'Nach Punjaban' (dance Punjabi woman) in filmmaker Karan Johar's Bollywood movie "JugJugg Jeeyo".
Last month, Haq took to Twitter and accused Johar and the filmmaker's company Dharma Productions of stealing his song and said he never sold them the rights to 'Nach Punjaban'.
In response to Haq's tweet, record label Movie Box had said on Twitter that the song had been officially licensed to be included in the film and that Johar and his production company had the legal rights to use the song in the upcoming movie. They also called the 53-year-old singer's tweet "defamatory" and "completely unacceptable".
Later, the singer clarified that his song had not been "licensed" to anyone and urged those making such a claim to produce an agreement. In the tweet, Haq had warned of legal action.
Record label T-Series had also issued a statement on Twitter and said that they had "legally acquired the rights to adapt the song 'Nach Punjaban' that was ... available on Lollywood Classics' YouTube channel, owned by Movie Box.”
Earlier this month, Haq had shared a video of himself saying: "A lot of fans have been asking me 'why haven't you gone to the court against Karan Johar and T-Series for stealing your song Nach Punjaban. The answer is yes I'm going to the court don't worry. Merely saying that the credit has been given because the song is well written and would make their movie a hit. I never gave you the song, I never gave anybody the rights to my song. It belongs to me so I'll get it back and I'm coming to the court, see you there."
The song in the film is titled 'The Punjabban Song' and uses the exact same tune as Haq's original but features different lyrics. It was released on May 28 and was shared by Johar as the first song from the upcoming film that saw Varun Dhawan, Anil Kapoor, Kiara Advani and Neetu Singh dancing to the popular chorus and hook of Haq's song from his 2002 album "Nach Punjaban".
