IC814 The Kandahar Hijack Makers Slapped With Copyright Infringement Lawsuit, Hearing On Friday

Soon after Netflix India was pulled up over claims of "whitewashing terrorism" and changing the identity of terrorists in the mini-series IC814: The Kandahar Hijack, which is inspired by true events, the makers are now faced with a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Asian News International (ANI). The news agency has claimed that the show uses its footage showing the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, General Parvez Musharraf and terrorist Masood Azhar without proper license and permission. As a result, the Delhi High Court has issued notice to Netflix and the show's other producers. The matter is listed for hearing on Friday.

According to ANI, the web series directed by Anubhav Sinha, used their clips without permission in 4 episodes.
 

 Centre raps Netflix India

Under pressure from the government, Netflix India had earlier said that it would include the real and code names of the hijackers of the Indian Airlines aircraft depicted in the web series 'IC814: The Kandahar Hijack'. The web series had triggered a row after a section of viewers objected to the humane projection of terrorists and reference to their Hindu code names, contending that distortion of the real identities of hijackers amounted to misrepresentation of historical events.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju summoned Netflix India's contend head, Monika Shergill, to convey the government's strong disapproval of the depiction of certain elements in the web series.

The controversy surrounding IC814 and calls for boycott

The government has taken a strong stand against the web series, with a senior representative contending that "nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation". The series has courted controversy on social media and elsewhere with many claiming that the film-maker changed the names of the hijackers to 'Shankar' and 'Bhola' to allegedly protect the terrorists who belonged to a certain community.

Hashtags such as #BoycottNetflix, #BoycottBollywood and #IC814 trended on social media but many survivors and journalists have come out in support of the series saying that the hijackers did use the code names depicted in the show. The 'aliases' used by the hijackers in the series have been in public domain, including the Union Home Ministry's official statement issued on January 6, 2000.

(With inputs from PTI)