Coke Studio's 'Hairaan Hua' removed due to copyright claim by Abida Parveen

The latest season of Coke Studio is in trouble once again as 'Hairaan Hua' from last week’s episode was taken down due to a copyright claim by Abida Parveen.

The song, performed by Sanam Marvi, is no longer available on YouTube but can still be viewed on Coke Studio’s Facebook page.

Although she has not commented on the dispute herself, Abida Parveen's son Sarang Latif said, “The rights to the composition [of 'Hairaan Hua'] are with us, registered in my mother’s name. It’s my mother’s intellectual property and they [Coke Studio] did not take permission from us [to use it]. They must have thought this was a traditional or folk composition, but it isn’t. My mother composes 99% of her songs herself.”

“It’s not like Coke Studio is unaware of what copyright and intellectual property are,” added Sarang. “We all know what would happen if anyone decides to simply take ‘Dil Dil Pakistan’.”

Sarang also told Images that the situation is under discussion and heading towards resolution. “We are yet to decide whether or not we’ll grant them the rights to use the song.”

That the song would be featured this season also came as a complete surprise for Abida Parveen and her son. “We only found out when the BTS for the episode aired, but we decided to wait and clarify things first [before bringing a claim],” said Sarang, pointing out a stark contrast in conduct compared to past seasons of Coke Studio.

“For example, for ‘Ghoom Charakhra’ last season, they explicitly asked for permission to use the composition and purchased it from us. We were also included in the process of how it would be used on the show. This time they didn’t even ask us.”

This isn't the first Coke Studio song to run into copyright dispute this season. Shuja Haider and Rachel Viccaji’s ‘Saiyaan’ was removed and then shortly restored on YouTube, while Abrar ul Haq’s wildly popular ‘Billo’ has been permanently taken down, both due to copyright claims by EMI Pakistan.