Bangladesh High Court freezes copyrights order on spy thriller Masud Rana-Kuasha book series

The High Court has paused for one month the effectiveness of an order issued by the Bangladesh Copyright Office granting copyright of 260 books of Masud Rana and 50 books of Kuasha series to their ghostwriter Sheikh Abdul Hakim.

The virtual bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali issued the orders after hearing a writ petition filed by the original author of the espionage-thriller Kazi Anwar Hossain on Thursday.

Lawyers AM Amin Uddin and ABM Hamidul Misbah stood for the author while Deputy Attorney General Debashish Bhattacharya and Assistant Attorney General Nasim Islam represented the state at the hearing.

The court also issued a rule asking why the order of the copyright office on the books would not be declared illegal as it was 'beyond its jurisdiction’.

The culture secretary, the copyright office, the registrar of copyrights and the copyright board have been ordered to answer the court.

“Bangladesh Copyright Office has no jurisdiction to hear complaints about the violation of the copyright act. District and sessions judges will hear the appeals over the issues,” Hamidul Misbah told bdnews24.com.

The copyright office had issued an order granting the copyright of Masud Rana and Kuasha book series to Sheikh Abdul Hakim on Jun 14.

However, Kazi Anwar Hossain was credited as the creator of Masud Rana character in the order, Copyright Office Registrar Jafor Raja Chowdhury had said earlier.

Hakim filed a complaint at the Bangladesh Copyright Office against Kazi for violating sections 71 and 89 of the Bangladesh Copyright Act on July 29, 2019.