Humayun Ahmed’s family serves legal notice on Grameenphone

Humayun Ahmed's family has served a legal notice on Grameenphone for "violating intellectual property rights" of the legendary author.

According to the family, the company has used the characters of Baker Bhai from "Kothao Keu Nei", Elachi Begum from "Ayomoy", Sobhan Shaheb from "Bohubrihi" and Taiyyab Ali from "Urey Jay Bok Pokkhi" without consent from the rightful party -- now Humayun Ahmed's family members.

The legal notice was sent on behalf of Ahmed's widow Meher Afroz Shaon; daughters Nova Ahmed, Sheela Ahmed and Bipasha Ahmed; son Nuhash Humayun; and brother renowned writer and academic Muhammad Zafar Iqbal through Barrister Hamidul Mesbah.

The notice was based on the allegation that in July 2020, Grameenphone ran a campaign titled "Kemon Achen Tara?" on its Facebook and YouTube, where the characters were used without any permission.

The episodes containing these characters have been viewed innumerable times on the platforms.

"This is a clear violation of intellectual property rights, unrightfully taking advantage of the popularity of the beloved characters," Meher Afroz Shaon told The Daily Star. "We (the family) are united and have full faith in our legal system, and will do whatever is needed to preserve our rights."

The legal notice has instructed Grameenphone to remove all the episodes of the campaign that contain these characters, as well as to contact the family members and provide them legal compensation within 15 days in order to avoid taking the matter to court.