The monk who didn't sell his guitar

Music academy owner claims HR manager from a leading bank duped him over copyright issues

Music academy owner claims HR manager from a leading bank duped him over copyright issues

What if Jimmy Hendrix opened an institute and discovered a copycat somewhere the next day? With due respect to the legend, piracy in this form probably would have killed him the second time.


musical discord The guitar institue run by Kapil Srivastava

Kapil Srivastava, a guitar trainer cum music composer, who owns the music academy 'Guitar Monk' and runs 12 training centres in the Capital, went through this real life nightmare. Kapil alleges that an NRI named Sachin Aatri, who is an HR manager with a reputed international bank in Delhi, has stolen his brand name and has been misusing it for the past one year without a copyright agreement. Kapil says Sachin has opened phoney branches of Guitar Monk in Gurgaon and Malviya Nagar with the name Guitar Geekz, without his consent.u00a0

Sachin apparently not only used Kapil's brand name for a flourishing business, but also created a profile of Guitar Monk on Facebook, with hundreds of fans joining the group every day.u00a0 "Sachin committed this fraud with the support of another franchisee Suri Sachdeva, who is running the Rajender Nagar Guitar Monk Institute.
They earn crores by using my brand name. They have not only cheated me, but are also misleading my students by opening a fake company. Sachin is using all my books, my logos and website without my consent," said Kapil.

"He created a Facebook group of my band and portrayed himself as the sole owner of the institute. He stated that only the Malviya Nagar and Gurgaon institutes are the original centres of Guitar Monk. But now he has deleted the details after a legal notice was issued to him," added Kapil, who has also composed music for some Bollywood projects.

During February 2009, Sachin came in contact with Kapil regarding the franchise of Guitar Monk. Kapil briefed

Right to copy?

As per Section 17 of the Act, the author or creator of the work is the first owner of copyright. An exception to this rule is that, the employer becomes the owner of copyright in circumstances where the employee creates a work in the course of and scope of employment. Copyright registration is invaluable to a copyright holder who wishes to take a civil or criminal action against the infringer. Registration formalities are simple and the paperwork is least. In case, a person other than employee has created the work, it would be necessary to file with the application, a copy of the assignment deed.

the HR manager about the relevant details related to the copyright agreement of his brand name. Sachin agreed to sign the agreement at that time, but later he only signed the letter of consent and not the full agreement.

"Sometimes Sachin threatens me by making phone calls and by sending me dirty emails, but I will not let him go. I have taken legal action against both the culprits and have registered a complaint for the violation of copyright act at the Malviya Nagar police station," said Kapil.

Meanwhile, Sachin denied the allegations and said, "It's just a frame-up. Kapil is a fraud. He took money from me and gave me the franchise."

Kapil started Guitar Monk, a 360-degree music concept, in 2003 with 12 music-learning centres across Delhi that facilitate nearly 2,000 students.