Rediffusion, a leading advertising agency in India, has alleged that Star Sports, a major broadcast network, used its intellectual property (IP) without permission in a recent commercial for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) featuring actor Tiger Shroff.
Rediffusion presented multiple concepts to Disney Star in August 2023, including two specific ideas for games based on the Mahabharata that were particularly well-received by the Disney Star team. The client never once mentioned or communicated that they were working on a similar idea with their creative partner. In an email dated September 5, 2023, Disney Star specifically commented on both the Mahabharata ideas, saying, “a mythological bend is interesting” and “Let’s park this for now due to development and promotion dependency.”
Rediffusion originated the Mahabharata idea on September 1, 2023, and this is an indisputable fact.
“We are deeply concerned that our concept has been used without our knowledge or consent, and without any credit or compensation,” said Kalyani Srivastava, Joint President of Rediffusion. “We believe that this constitutes IP infringement and we have requested the client to immediately halt the airing of the commercial until this matter is resolved.”
Rediffusion has provided Star Sports with evidence to support their claim that they originated the concept. The agency says that they have emails from Star Sports dating back to September 2023 in which the broadcaster never once mentioned or communicated that they were working on a similar idea.
“Star Sports specifically noted in their email dated September 5, 2023, that there were certain ideas that were already in progress at their end, but there was no mention of the Mahabharata idea. In fact, the comment by the Disney Star team that ‘a mythological bend is interesting’ clearly indicates that there was no previous work in progress or current discussion with the Disney Star’s advertising partner,” said Kalyani Srivastava, Rediffusion.
“We were more than willing to amicably settle the issue, but Disney Star has been trying to dodge any constructive discussion to resolve matters. They have acknowledged in writing that Rediffusion presented the Mahabharata ideas for PKL but keep obfuscating the issue with non-specific claims thereafter on it being generic,” said Carol Goyal, executive director and head legal, Rediffusion Group.
Rediffusion is calling for the immediate stoppage of the airing of the commercial and is considering taking legal action against Star Sports.