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A music company files lawsuit against Ola over piracy issue

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CIOL A music company files lawsuit against Ola for copyright infringement

Cab aggregator Ola is once again in trouble, this time over piracy issues. A Bangalore-based recording company reportedly has accused Ola of playing pirated film songs on its platform Ola Play.

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According to the media reports, Tulasiram Naidu, director of Lahari Recording Company, found that Ola was playing audios of popular Telugu movies such as Baahubali, Khaidi No.150, and Kannada movie Sundaranga Jaana, when he took an Ola ride from the airport to his home in Bangalore. The case has been filed against Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and chief technical officer Ankit Bhati.

CIOL A music company files lawsuit against Ola for copyright infringement

Following the complaint, Ola's office was raided, and hard disks along with few vehicles were seized by the police, as per the reports.

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"We have documented all the songs which were playing," a police officer told media. "The notice has been issued to both the accused to show their copyrights on each song. Both accused didn't turn up on notice, and we will wait for some more time. If they fail to appear, we will arrest them and produce before the court."

While Ola's founders weren't available for any comments, Luthra & Luthra, Ola's lawyers, said that the company conducted business legally and claimed, "It appears that the management of Ola has been dragged into this issue with a mala fide intention."

"We are confident that our client will stand vindicated of these allegations. Our client is sensitive to their rights as well as that of others. We have taken appropriate legal steps to protect our client's interests, and the matter is now before the courts," the lawyer further added.

The news comes on the heels of the cab-aggregator raising about $50 million funding from hedge fund Tekne Capital Management.

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