Times Group & Arnab Goswami get in legal spat over copyright

Just days after the launch of Arnab Goswami’s news channel, Republic TV, rival Times Now is facing the heat and has filed a legal case against its former presenter over copyright issues.

Exchange4Media reports that on Tuesday the media giant lodged a criminal complaint against Goswami and senior journalist Prem Sridevi accusing them of theft, criminal breach of trust, misappropriation of property and infringement of IPR of Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. (BCCL) by using the same on Republic TV on 6th May and 8th May 2017.

A statement issued by Times Group said, “An internal inquiry by BCCL is said to have pointed out that these tapes were procured and in the possession of Goswami and Prema Sridevi while they were in the service of BCCL. In fact, BCCL claims that Goswami and Prema Sridevi have on Republic TV admitted and claimed that the audio conversation in the Sunanda Pushkar case aired on May 8, 2017 was in their possession for the last two years when they were in their previous organisation i.e. with Times Now.”

Reacting to the legal dispute, Goswami told the publication, “They must collect themselves and start showing some grace and poise and realise that independent media houses like Republic couldn’t care less about these methods. At Republic, we focus on the news and we are delighted by the tremendous response that we have got nationwide in the first two weeks of our launch. Our traction amongst viewers and social media and all digital platforms is many times greater than of the Times Group and it must be their desperation at facing defeat that is forcing them to carry out embarrassing stunts like this. I am proud of our journalism and the work we have done. And it is amusing for me and my team to see Goliath start crying like they are now. As I said in this David vs. Goliath fight, the game for Goliath is over and it has just begun for us.”

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