Abrarul Haq issues legal notice to UK record label claiming ownership over his 'Nach Punjaban'

Singer has refused to settle for a mere credit in 'The Punjaabban Song' featured in KJo's 'Jugjugg Jeeyo'.

Days after declaring he will proceed to take legal action against Jugjugg Jeeyo producer Karan Johar, despite receiving a credit in the music video for The Punjaabban Song, Abrarul Haq has announced that his lawyers in the United Kingdom (UK) have issued a legal notice to UK record label Moviebox Birmingham Limited, which claims rights over his 2002 hit Nach Punjaban.

Taking to Twitter on Saturday night, Haq disclosed, “My lawyers in United Kingdom have issued a legal notice to Moviebox with respect to the misappropriation of my song Nach Punjaban.” Promising to dish out “more updates” in the following days, the singer concluded his tweet with the hashtag “Stop Stealing Our Songs”.

My lawyers in United Kingdom have issued a Legal Notice to Movie Box with respect to the misappropriation of my song “Nach Punjaban”. More Updates will follow in the coming few days.@1Moviebox #NachPunjaban #StopStealingOurSongs

— Abrar Ul Haq (@AbrarUlHaqPK) June 25, 2022

Moviebox is yet to respond to Haq’s legal notice and latest tweet.

While written and performed by Haq, Nach Punjaban is sourced to Moviebox on Spotify. Following Haq’s initial tweet against the usage of his song in Jugjugg Jeeyo, the UK record label had issued a statement of its own on Twitter. The label had stated that Nach Punjaban had been “licensed to be included” in Johar's film. It claimed that Dharma Productions have the “legal rights to use the song for their upcoming movie.” Moviebox also called the 53-year-old singer's allegation “defamatory and completely unacceptable.”

Following this, Haq assured that his song had not been licensed to any entity. “Nach Punjaban has not been licensed to anyone. If someone is claiming it, then produce the agreement. I will be taking legal action," he tweeted.

Directed by Raj Mehta, JugJugg Jeeyo released in cinemas on June 24, Friday. The film stars Varun Dhawan opposite Kiara Advani, both of whom shake a leg to The Punjaabban Song in the film. Prior to the release, the track was used extensively to promote JugJugg Jeeyo, with many Bollywood celebs recreating dance steps from the music video of the song.

A day before the film's release, when asked to share a message for Haq, Dhawan told Bollywood Hungama, "He's sung the song so well, it's amazing, outstanding. We loved it. Our music company bought the rights and now our song is doing so well, so thank you."

Without breaking a sweat, filmmaker Nabeel Qureshi, who also recently likened Bollywood's Akshay Kumar's Raksha Bandhan to his 2018 offering Load Wedding, took a dig at Dhawan's remark. Sharing the Indian actor's comment to his own Insta Story, Qureshi quipped, "Itna zabardast gaya ke apne kaha chura lo! (Yes, he sang so well that you were compelled to steal it!)."

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