Cited for copyright violation, Bear Grylls has landed himself into trouble

                            ~ Author and Screenwriter Arrmann Shharma and Producer Gurinder Dhawan alleges that Grylls’ show is a copy of his series ~

The entertainment industry is a big and diverse group of people with many connections. Having said that how would you feel if your content is copied by another content creator without giving you due credit. Recently, there was a similar issue with Author and Screenwriter Arrmann Shharma and Producer Gurinder Dhawan, where Bear Grylls is suspected of violating Arrmann’s original copyright creation, “Aakhri Dum Takk” (Till the Last Breath).

The court referred the parties to mediation after Grylls' counsel made a request. The matter has been listed before the Delhi High Court Mediation Centre for January 17, 2023, and before the court on February 22, 2023. Sharma moved the High Court alleging that Grylls' show violated his original copyright creation, "Aakhri Dum Takk" (Till the Last Breath).

Arrmann conceptualized and scripted the reality show in 2009, whereas Grylls’ show started in 2013. Discovery had turned down his proposal after learning that the screenplay didn't fit the channel's inventory and programming requirements at the time. Additionally, he claimed that Grylls was employed by Discovery at the time of the alleged infringing show's production and left the company afterwards.

Commenting on the same Arrmann Shharma said, “This was something that I would have never imagined to happen, where the rights of an Indian like me would be at stake. This makes me think about the ethics of the entertainment industry and how it makes it difficult to trust people. The places specified in the cited work are the same places where the cited infringing programme is produced. Defendant No. 1 (Grylls) continued to serve as the program's host, and the introduction, interval, climax, and idea of the show were all based on and shot in the way described and created by Plaintiff in his original copyrighted screenplay that was given to Defendant No. 3 (Discovery).”

Gurinder Dhawan also commented, “This event proves that good copywriting is essential when creating content because there are many people who would take your work without giving you any credit, which would be unfair. I wouldn’t wish this for anyone where the credit of their hard work is taken by someone else.”

The trials are going on and eventually, the court will pass its judgement hoping to be in Arrmann’s favour. We are here fighting for what is right. We want to make sure that if someone creates something interesting, they don't have to worry about someone else copying their work and making it their own while stealing someone's credit.