Startup in legal trouble for using his pitch video from Shark Tank India

Delhi: Dorje Teas, a subscription-based tea startup that delivers fresh-from-farm, organic Darjeeling Tea to customers across India, made an appearance on Shark Tank India, only to find themselves in legal trouble soon after. They received a legal notice from Sony Pictures Networks India.

Sparsh Agarwal, the co-founder who presented Dorje Teas on Shark Tank India and secured investments from Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal, and Vineeta Singh totalling Rs 30 lakh for 15% equity, valuing the company at Rs 2 crore, revealed on LinkedIn that they were served a legal notice by Shark Tank India for using clips from their own pitch.

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Agarwal explained that the notice cited copyright violations for the use of these clips on YouTube and Meta ads. Dorje Teas wasn't alone; other startups that appeared on Shark Tank also received similar notices from Sony Pictures. 

Agarwal expressed his confusion over this move, given that startups like Dorje Teas invest significant amounts each month to promote Shark Tank content, essentially providing free publicity and brand recall for Shark Tank India.

He criticised this action as a misguided decision by someone at Sony, stating that it contradicts the goal of supporting small startups, which has been a focus of Shark Tank Season 3 in India. He questioned how a "new India" could be built with such actions.

While Agarwal found support on social media, some argued that Sony's actions were legally justified. They pointed out that Agarwal, as part of the content, shared it on his social media platforms but not on Sony's, potentially diverting traffic away from Sony. Additionally, they suggested that Agarwal might have signed a waiver form granting Sony perpetual rights to the content produced during the show.

Others suggested viewing the situation from a different perspective, emphasising the mutual benefit between startups and Shark Tank in promoting each other's brands.