An independent content creator, Saba Arif, has lashed out at the IIFA and its parent company, Wizcraft, accusing them of plagiarism while paying the tribute to legendary actress Sridevi.
In a Facebook post, Saba wrote, “It’s so heartbreaking when something you’ve worked on gets ripped off and passed off as someone else’s work. I just happened to turn on the TV to watch the IIFA awards last night and I got the rude shock of having MY video played on the show without my permission!
“To see the entire film fraternity tearing up after having watched the video that I made might have been the biggest privilege of my career, if it hadn’t been for the fact that they didn’t acknowledge me at all for having made it.”
The stunning allegation of content theft by a company as reputed as Wizcraft came just hours after the award ceremony was broadcast on Colors TV last Sunday.
Saba told an entertainment website, “They conveniently passed it as their own video.. If they are so incompetent that they can’t create their own videos, they have no right to steal someone else’s work.”
Saba told Mid-Day, “I did that video out of my sheer love for Sridevi. Clearly, they have no respect for her legacy. This is a copyright violation. I don’t want to sue them, nor do I want monetary compensation. I want them to give me my due credit and tender an apology.”
Wizcraft has not responded to her allegations.
Here’s the link to Saba’s original video;