James, Miles demand Tk 10cr from Banglalink

Rock singer Faruque Mahfuz Anam James, and rock band Miles (Mannam Ahmed and Hamin Ahmed) have demanded Tk 10 crore from Banglalink to withdraw their cases against the mobile phone operator under the Copyright Act.

They filed two separate cases against the telecommunication service provider Banglalink on charges of violating copyright.

Hearing on the case was held at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Emrul Kayes on Monday.

The accused in the case — Chief Operating Officer of Banglalink Erik Aas, Chief Compliance Officer M Nurul Alam, Chief Corporate Regulatory Officer Taimur Rahman and Head of Value Added Service Anik Dhar — were present at the court to seek permanent bail.

After the hearing, the court passed the permanent bail order to the accused and set January 5 for the next hearing.

During the hearing, the lawyers representing the accused said they were negotiating with the plaintiffs.

“The plaintiffs have sought Tk 10 crore (Tk 5 crore each). We will sit over the matter with the plaintiffs and hopefully the case will be settled soon,” said the lawyers.

Earlier on November 10, James and Manam Ahmed and Hamin Ahmed of rock band Miles sued mobile phone operator Banglalink for the violation of copyright law.

According to the case statement, the accused Banglalink used their songs without prior permission.