Copyright of Bangabandhu's Pictures Belongs to People, Not to Individuals: HC

Rare pictures of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family and rare pictures related to independence and liberation war cannot be owned by a person. On the contrary, the High Court has ruled that it belongs to the state and the people.

The court said that the copyright will remain with the people of Bangladesh and the state.

The High Court bench comprising Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman passed the order on Tuesday (December 14) disposing of a writ petition alleging plagiarism and copyright infringement of a book written in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The verdict said that the rights of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu, his family and historical pictures of the liberation war do not belong to any individual, but to the state alone.

Barrister Anik R Haque appeared for the writ petition. On the other hand, Advocate Shah Manjurul Haque was present at the hearing on behalf of journalist Nazmul Hossain.

Later, Manjurul Haque said, "As a result of the court's verdict, we have the copyright to write the book." However, the book concerned has been asked to express its gratitude to the concerned department in more clear language.

Earlier in the year, the process of purchasing eight books for 'Bangabandhu Corner' was completed in government primary schools of the country. Nazmul Hossain, a journalist, was accused of forging three of the eight books.

Journalist Nazmul Hossain who owns two publishing houses named 'Journey Multimedia Limited' and 'Swadhika Publishers' was also accused of stealing the intellectual property of the book 'Bangabandhu Manei Swadhinota (Bangabandhu means freedom)' and '3053 days' as well as the book 'Amar Sheikh Russel' edited by Professor Nasrin Ahmed.

The books are sold to the Directorate of Primary Education. The book was cleared by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman filed a writ petition in the High Court on August 31, 2020, seeking directions for a judicial or independent inquiry, alleging that the people of the ministry were involved in Nazmul Hossain's alleged corruption of around Tk 20 crore.

The RG was asked to issue a judicial inquiry into the writ petition and why the government's inaction in taking action against those involved in the theft of intellectual property and book copyright in Bangabandhu's name would not be declared illegal.

A High Court bench headed by Justice Obaidul Hasan and Justice AKM Zahirul Haque passed the order on September 2, 2020 on the preliminary hearing of the writ petition. The High Court has ordered an independent probe against Nazmul Hossain, a senior reporter of Jamuna TV, on charges of plagiarism and forgery of books written about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

At the same time, the court formed a committee headed by the Secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and comprising Mofidul Haque, Director General of Bangla Academy and one of the members of the Board of Trustees of the Liberation War Museum.