Family members of eminent writer Humayun Ahmed sent a legal notice to Grameenphone for using the characters from his popular plays - 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.
The legal notice was sent on behalf of late Ahmed's wife and popular actresssinger 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.
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The notice was based on the allegation that in July 2020, Grameenphone used the characters in a campaign titled "Kemon Achen Tara?" on its Facebook and YouTube, without any prior permission from the deceased's family.
The episodes that portray these 4 characters have racked in more than 3 million views.
Addressing the issue, Meher Afroz Shaon said, "Among the many characters created by Humayun Ahmed, the characters of Baker Bhai, Elachi Begum, Sobhan Saheb and Tayyab Ali are very popular and well-known which are still in the hearts of the viewers. Unauthorized and commercial use of all these characters is a clear violation of Humayun Ahmed's intellectual property rights and that is very unacceptable. In order to protect the intellectual property of Humayun Ahmed, his family members will always do their best to do what is necessary and rely on the existing laws."
The legal notice has instructed Grameenphone to remove all the episodes of the campaign that contain these characters within 3 days of the issued date, 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.
