After getting a legal letter from Sony Pictures for copyright infringement, the subscription-based tea business Dorje Teas found itself in deep water for utilising footage from their own pitch on YouTube and Meta advertisements.

The founders of the subscription-based tea company Dorje Teas, Ishaan Kanoria and Sparsh Agarwal.

While many entrepreneurs, especially those with startups, have found transformation through the business reality TV series Shark Tank India, the narrative is slightly different for Dorje Teas, a subscription-based tea firm that ships organic and fresh-from-the-farm Darjeeling Tea to consumers throughout India. Sony Pictures Networks India slapped the firm with a legal notice, which has placed it in hot water.

Co-founder Sparsh Agarwal of the company, who brought Dorje Teas to Shark Tank India last year and raised funds of Rs 30 lakh for 15% equity from Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal, and Vineeta Singh, valued the business at Rs 2 crore, recently revealed on LinkedIn that they received a legal notice from Shark Tank India for utilising snippets of their own pitch.

Agarwal claims that they received a notification about copyright infringement for utilising these clips in YouTube and Meta advertisements. It appears that Sony Pictures has sent notice to other companies besides Dorje Teas. He said, “They’ve clamped down on every single startup that showed up on Shark Tank, so we’re not the only ones.”

“I don’t understand why they would do this, even though I am aware of the copyright rules that justify it. After all, Dorje Teas and several other businesses, like Skippi, Assembly, Perfora, Hoovu Fresh, Beyond Snack, Wakao Foods, Nasher Miles, and many more, invest thousands of dollars each month to enhance Shark Tank content, which helps the Shark Tank India brand get free exposure and increase brand memory,” he continued.

Agarwal went on to call it a poor business choice that some executive or lawyer at Sony had made, adding that it “goes against the entire ethos of promoting small startups.”

Additionally, the focus of Shark Tank Season 3 has been on creating a new India and assisting the startup environment in India. “How will we construct a ‘new India’ in this manner?’” he questioned in a self-recorded video.

On social media, Agarwal was met with praise, while some contended that Sony’s actions were legitimate in theory. “Dear Sparsh, you must realise that ‘You are the content’ in this situation. You play a big part in content production. You posted the material that features you on your social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and so on), but not on Sony’s. You might say that the traffic they were supposed to get was somehow redirected to them. A content strategist made the observation, “You are monetizing your social channels with the content they produce.”

“The first person to provide a sneak peek in the content industry attracts greater attention. Furthermore, it’s possible that you agreed to sign a waiver giving them perpetual rights to the footage they shot. They said, “Verify your contract or try to recall signing any electronic documents on the filming locations that make this clear.

“You are investing lakhs of dollars to promote Shark Tank, while Shark Tank is investing billions of dollars to plan and publicise the programme that features your brand.” Simply alter your viewpoint, as another poster pointed out.

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