Bosky Khanna By Express News Service BENGALURU: Even before the film Wild Karnataka was screened on the big screen, it has already become a hit on social media, which has resulted in a tussle between the filmmakers and the Karnataka Forest department. The film’s preview was on January 15, and was on the dorest department’s and the Zoo Authority of Karnataka’s social media pages by afternoon. While the filmmakers said the department could have waited a few more days before releasing the film on social media, department officials claimed it is their property, and that they have rights over it. Taking note of this, the government has asked department officials to intimate the owners of PVR, where the film is being released today, of the details. Following this, officials have sent out a copy of the MoU signed between the department and the filmmakers, which asserts that the movie belongs to the department, and that all copyrights rest with them. “The movie is to be screened on big screens like PVR so that people can enjoy it. But now it is out on social media, which will reduce the number of people watching it in theatre. Though legally, the department can screen the movie anywhere they want, ethically, they could have held it for a few days,” said one of the filmmakers. Forest officials, however, defended that the movie was given to them last year, when it was officially released in August- September. “Technically, the movie belongs to the department. We have been informed that the movie will be screened in PVRs from January 17, but no permission was taken from the department,” a senior department official told TNIE. The official added, “As per the MoU, the filmmakers must share the raw footage and all details pertaining to the making and screening with the department, which has not been done. The movie has been put on social media platforms and there is no violation of the contract, which clearly states that it can be used for educational, publicity, tourism and promotional purposes. It is not a commercial film, however, there is a clause in the MoU that the additional remuneration derived after recovering the production cost must be transferred to Project Tiger Fund. But the filmmakers have not yet shared their expenditure. So the department has put out the movie on social media for people to learn more about the state.” The tussle has only drawn more attention to the film on social media, so much so, that the department’s servers crashed. “There was a lot of criticism and appreciation. There was also a lot of rush to download the movie, leading to technical issues. So we used the Zoo Authority of Karnataka’s handle to publicise the movie,” the official said. People who watched the premier, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, had mixed feelings about the film. While many appreciated it, many others felt it lacked “action”. City court holds off release of web series in copyright mess Bengaluru: A city court has stayed the release of web series Afsos on an online streaming platform following a plaint filed by a Kannada movie director claiming the series is a copy of his script. Director Islahuddin NS had filed a suit in a city civil court, stating he had registered the script in 2017. He claimed the film’s trailer had the same content as his script, calling it a violation of the Copyright Act. The court, which has adjourned the hearing, has issued an injunction and stayed the online the release of the series.

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