Amid Do Patti plagiarism row, Priyanka Khimani warns musicians of licensing

Almost a year after it became a hit, people are talking about Raanjhan, the song from Kriti Sanon and Kajol’s Do Patti (2024), all over again. But this time, composer duo Sachet-Parampara’s creation has hit headlines for plagiarism. Earlier this week, international music producer KMKZ posted a video on Instagram, noting that the piano loop and chord progression in Raanjhan matched his creation that he had uploaded two years ago. He went on to reveal that he had mailed music label T-Series and Sachet-Parampara regarding the plagiarism, but didn’t receive a reply. “I have not been credited or paid,” said KMKZ, adding that he has now taken the legal route to ensure that he gets his due in terms of credit and compensation.

This is the second plagiarism allegation against Do Patti’s album. In 2024, Kolkata music producer Rajarshi Mitter alleged that the track, Maiyya, was lifted from his composition and sent a legal notice to the makers. 

KMKZ; (right) (L-R) Parampara Thakur and Sachet Tandon

As the two accusations put the spotlight on music creation in the Hindi film industry, entertainment lawyer Priyanka Khimani, who worked with Mitter on the case, said that in such instances, the onus usually rests with the music directors. She told mid-day, “In recent times, the label is not as involved in the making of the soundtrack. The composer is making the songs with their own sensibilities, or with relevant direction from the film’s makers. Of course, there is collective responsibility in so far as infringement and copyright law are concerned. But in this case, one needs to examine where the process originated and what due diligence was put in place before using third party beats and samples.”

With music samples readily available on the internet, Khimani noted that many artistes tend to be callous about picking them up without acquiring them through proper channels or without reading the fine print. “A lot of composers and creators tend to be fast and loose about picking up beats and samples that are available on third party platforms, without doing a deeper dive into their origin. There have been claims from producers of beats that were licensed from a beats platform — in some cases, the composers would purchase an incorrect licence that didn’t allow them to make commercial usage of that beat. It boils down to ignorance, or pure callousness. Just because it’s on the internet does not mean it’s in the public domain.” 

Priyanka Khimani

Khimani emphasised the need for musicians to be mindful of acquiring licensed material. “You can’t use third party assets without ensuring that you’ve reached out to the concerned person and licensed it correctly to use it in a commercial fashion.”

mid-day reached out to Sachet and Parampara on Wednesday, but they remained unavailable till press time.