Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's historic speech on March 7, 1971 was the vital force in the development of independent Bangladesh. Preparations for the armed liberation war began with that speech at Dhaka's Race Course Maidan (now Suhrawardy Udyan).
In 2017, after 46 years of independence, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization recognized this speech as an important documentary heritage of the world. However, the government or the Bangabandhu family have not yet confirmed the copyright of that speech or the ownership of creative works.
According to Section 78 of the Copyright Act, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the copyright owner of this speech. In the absence of Bangabandhu, its owners are his two daughters Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana. Apart from that, according to UNESCO's acknowledgment form, Bangladesh Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Information, Bangladesh Film Archive and Bangladesh Betar are the copyright holders of Bangabandhu's March 7 speech.
However, according to the copyright law, due to not confirming the ownership of the speech, individuals and various organizations are misusing the speech in various ways on social media including YouTube, which is a violation of the Digital Copyright Act.
Earlier, Indian company Inreco Entertainment Pvt Ltd had held the copyright of Bangabandhu's historical speech for about 8 years through trickery for commercial purposes. This speech is held under a digital license. They uploaded the video content of the speech on YouTube under the song category 'Rakter pratishod rajnei neb' and 'Shono ak mujiburer ton'. Through this, the company has made at least 10 million dollars in terms of royalties from YouTube, according to the Bangladesh Copyright Association.
In 2021, the 18-minute speech of Bangabandhu was released from the possession of the Indian institution due to the efforts of barrister Olora Afrin, a copyright expert in the public interest. When he sent a legal notice to the company, they revoked the license. After this, the government said to confirm the copyright of Bangabandhu's speech as soon as possible, but there was no progress.
Culture Secretary Khalil Ahmad told Samakal, "Probably the decision of the cabinet is needed regarding the father of the nation." Copyright-related issues may be addressed by the Copyright Office.'
Regarding the matter, Registrar of Copyrights (Additional Secretary) Daud Mia told Samakal, 'We do not have any application regarding the copyright of Bangabandhu's March 7 speech. I don't even have any copyright information.' He said, according to the law, his family or heirs must apply to copyright the speech. The application can also come from the trust which preserves the memory of Bangabandhu. Once the application is received, the process can be completed in one and a half months.
None of Bangabandhu's speech including that speech has been copyrighted. As a result, various parts of the speech are being circulated on social media in different ways from the country and abroad. Also broadcast in fragments. As a result, there is often a risk of misinterpretation depending on the context.
Copyright expert barrister Olora Afrin said Bangabandhu's speech is being used online in various ways. Then while looking for its ownership, I found that an Indian company named Inreco Entertainment has been using it on various online platforms since 2012. They took digital license with another name. But when it is played, Bangabandhu's speech of March 7 starts. But the creator of that speech is the father of the nation himself. So I gave a legal notice to the Indian company in 2020. As a result, the company gave up the copyright. He said, after that, four meetings were held with the Prime Minister's press secretary and some representatives. It was decided to copyright Bangabandhu's speech, but no further progress was made. He expects the Prime Minister's intervention in this regard.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Trust made the same pledge. Mashura Hossain, chief executive officer of the trust, said, 'No application related to the copyright of Bangabandhu's speech is under process.
Necessary action will be taken if the decision is received.' Nazrul Islam Khan, curator of the trust, said, 'Discussions were held at different times. But no progress has been made.'
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs also asked to archive Bangabandhu's speech. In this regard, Minister of Liberation War Affairs AKM Mozammel Haque said that the project activities have not started yet. However, the issue of preservation of Bangabandhu's speeches in the archive of the ministry is in the proposal of the project.
Prominent Liberation War researcher and trustee of the Liberation War Museum. Sarwar Ali told Samakal that seven crore Bengalis were inspired by the mantra of independence after hearing Bangabandhu's March 7 speech. This speech is very important. That speech will not be copyrighted – it cannot be. All speeches of Bangabandhu, including this one, need to be copyrighted immediately. Otherwise the speeches will be distorted, the use for personal interests will increase. Along with Bangabandhu's family, the state also has the opportunity to take initiative in this regard.
