Farhad Humayun serves Coca Cola a legal notice for plagiarising his music

The soft drink manufacturers have seemingly copied Humayun's version of Neray Aah, a 2011 release, for their recent commercial.

Irfan Ul Haq

23 Oct, 2020

Pakistani singer and record producer Farhad Humayun popularly known for his association with the drum-jam band Overload, is suing Coca Cola for infringement of his intellectual property rights.

In what is a recent advertisement named 'Coke and Music,' the carbonated soft drink manufacturers have plagiarised Humayun's version of Neray Aah, a 2011 release.

From the distinct vocalisation to the guitar, rhythm, tempo, music and vocal melody, the broadcast is part of Coca Cola's social media teasers across popular mediums such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.

The song:

The plagiarised commercial:

"The blatant infringement of Farhad Humayun’s content by Coca Cola is a great disappointment as the corporation professes to champion the efforts of the local music industry but has acted otherwise. The artist has therefore, been forced to seek justice through legal channels," revealed his team in a conversation with Images.

This is not the first time the company is facing accusations of such nature.

Previously, pop singer and activist Shehzad Roy too, sent a legal notice for his 2008 hit Laga Rahe which was used in a Sprite campaign without his official go-ahead.

Comments

M. Saeed Oct 23, 2020 03:06pm

Coke is a public property and portrays the mood of general public.

Recommend

KTH Oct 23, 2020 03:45pm

Plagiarized or not. Please take it off the air - it jars the senses.

Raheel Oct 23, 2020 05:25pm

You'll get a buck or two dude relax why so serious?

Tariq Oct 23, 2020 05:25pm

Looks like a clean copy, good luck Farhad in your court battle

ahmed Oct 23, 2020 06:20pm

did he pay naseebo laal and ustad tafu for using their song?

Wahid Anwar Oct 23, 2020 07:36pm

Call that music?

waheed khan Oct 23, 2020 10:26pm

Isn't Neray Aah originally a song from the hit Pakistani movie...Khatarnak in 74 sung by Mala Begum?

Algoritmi Oct 23, 2020 11:18pm

@M. Saeed Coke is not public property and rake billions of dollars around the world and they should not steal the original work of an artist. Instead, they should pay the artist and get signed agreement with him.

Osman Oct 24, 2020 01:17am

The original song was released in the Lollywood hit Choorian in 1999 and the music director of this song belongs to Attre family based in Lahore.

Naseer Ahmad Oct 24, 2020 01:25am

Pretty bold of Farhad Huamayun to sue Coca Cola when he himself stole the song from Noor Jehan.

Toni Oct 24, 2020 02:37am

@M. Saeed your comment is ignorant of Intellectual Property Rights that Coke signed on to, being a USa based company, hence, your comment is not the public sentiment, go educate yourself.

fika77 Oct 24, 2020 05:30am

Not sure what's the legal stance on this, but he himself remixed this version from original. So if anyone who should be sending notice to Coke is 'Syed Noor'. He had this song in his blockbuster film 'Chooriyan' in 1998.

Abbas Oct 24, 2020 05:38am

Coke should be liable to pay the fine and compensate the artist. Under no circumstances any organization can cheat with the artist.

Memon Abdul Oct 24, 2020 11:27am

Youtube search of same song yields results of the same song from an 1998 Punjabi film - so who has plagiarised whom now...

Asif Oct 24, 2020 12:15pm

@M.Saeed, what you saying man? His song has been stolen and that was not a PUBLIC property.

Ashraf Oct 24, 2020 02:18pm

I think Farhad Humayun might lose battle of copyrights because original song was produced for Pakistani movie "Chooriyan" in year 2006 and sung by Saira Naseem. Later, only remix version came in market by Farhad Humayun in year 2011. So based on legal grounds, Farhad Humayun cant do anything. His case can only be strong if someone used his voice/vocals in any track without his permission (which is not the actual reason right now), otherwise its a total waste of time.

Syed Zakria Khalid Oct 24, 2020 04:22pm

How is that copied

Saba Oct 25, 2020 07:36am

I alwayd thought he was part of it, sad to know it was just plagiarised. Aren't the vocals same as original?

Mairaj Hashmi Oct 25, 2020 10:03am

I strongly condemn this stupid step by Coca Cola, as they not only used the music but also used the same lyrics.

Rukhsana Qadir Oct 26, 2020 02:18am

This one is also distorted copy of original song"Nerray aa" by either Madam Noor Jahan or Naseebo Lal.