KATHMANDU: Muvizz.com, the producers of the short film Kriti, are set to file a defamation suit against Nepali filmmaker Aneel Neupane, who claimed that Bollywood filmmaker Shirish Kunder’s short movie Kriti is a copy of his film Bob, according to IANS.

Quoting advocate Rizwan Siddiquee, representing Kunder and Muvizz.com, IANS reported, “As of now, my client’s film Kriti is being exhibited on Muvizz.com, Dailymotion, Vimeo and Facebook. We have also explained our legal position to YouTube channel.”

YouTube has also removed BOB from its channel because of objections.

“Nonetheless, my clients are fully cooperating with YouTube in the said matter, and are hopeful that their film shall be exhibited soon on their esteemed platform,” Siddiquee is further quoted.

Muvizz.com has also released an official statement stating that they have initiated legal proceedings and will also be filing a defamation suit.

According to IANS, the statement read, “Before anything else, let’s look at the facts: We have asked the director of Bob to substantiate his allegations with facts. Not only has he failed to do that but has so far chosen to not even reply to our legal communication. Bob was initially released online with a private key to the director’s personal friends, none of whom are known to anyone at our end. If otherwise, we would like to know who amongst those with access shared the private key and more importantly to whom was it shared with.”

The statement also read that Kriti was shot in February 2016, and Bob was published on YouTube in May 2016, so the idea that Kriti was copied purely because it was released a month later on YouTube is “ridiculous”.

Meanwhile, citing that defamation and copyright are two different issues, media lawyer Ananta Raj Luitel stated, “The copyright issue needs to be established first in order for the defamation suit to be proved. If Kriti producers file the defamation suit, Neupane has to prove that his movie BOB was registered first.”

According to the Universal Copyright Convention 1952, “The creation which has first been registered wins the copyright claim.”

And though it is an issue between artistes of two different nations, “it is possible to file the defamation suit, though the process won’t be that easy. It can be filed as a domestic charge in India, and the notice can be sent to our court via the foreign ministry” as per Luitel.