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In a recent post on LinkedIn, Dorje Teas co-founder Sparsh Agarwal stated that they had received a legal notice from Shark Tank India for using clips from their own pitch.
"We woke up to a number of legal claims made by the Sony Pictures Networks India team, sending us a copyright violation notice for using clips from our own pitch in YouTube and Meta ads," he said.
Agarwal also claimed that they were not the only ones who received such notices.
"They've cracked down on each and every startup that appeared on Shark Tank," he asserted.
While Agarwal acknowledged the underlying copyright laws, he expressed confusion over the decision.
He pointed out that companies like Dorje Teas, Skippi, Assembly, Perfora, Hoovu Fresh, Beyond Snack, Wakao Foods, Nasher Miles, and many others spend lacs each month to promote Shark Tank content, which gives free publicity and brand recall to the Shark Tank India brand.
"This seems like such a bad business decision made by some executive/legal person within Sony, to me. It also goes against the entire ethos of promoting small startups," he added.
Netizens reactions
Sparsh first shared the post on LinkedIn on Friday, and since then, it has received over 400 likes. While many people supported Agarwal, a group of users explained the reasons behind the legal notices.
"Dear Sparsh, it's crucial to understand that in this context, 'You are the content.' Your role in content creation is significant, and I'm here to help you understand why this misunderstanding may have occurred. You shared the content that features you on your social media (YT/FB/Insta and likewise) but not on Sony's social handles. In a way, the traffic they should have received would have been diverted to you. You are monetising your social channels with the content they produce. In the content business, the first to share the sneak preview gets more eyeballs. In addition, you may have signed a waiver form that states you give them rights in perpetuity for this content shot by them. Check your contract or see if you remember signing any digital form on the shooting sets that states this," a user wrote.
"you are spending lakhs to push Shark tank, Shark tank is spending crores to organise & promote the show in which your brand gets promoted. Just change the perspective," another wrote.
"Mr. Sparsh Agarwal, I am absolutely 💯 agree with you. Through their platform one of their Shark attained huge popularity from his word "Doglapan". Later he made it trademark. Published the book 📖 with that title. In that Sony Pictures Networks India has not raised any issue when someone is publicizing himself. In case of every step of Small & Medium entrepreneur they start giving infringement ⚠️ warnings. They must see from open eyes. Their steps must be fair enoughShark Tank Indiaia seems helping platform for many emerging entrepreneurs. This is not expected froSony Pictures Networks Indiaia. Hence Sony network will be treated as site of Doglapan channel," another wrote in support of Agarwal.