Raahil’s blog: Clever adapts or plagiarism?

Earlier today we came across Envy’s latest campaign featuring actors Akshay Kumar and Elnaaz Norouzi.

A team member shared it with me asking for my views on the same and whether we should carry it on the site. Seconds into the film, I saw it to be strikingly similar to a video I’d seen a few months ago while browsing social media short videos.

 

I showed it around in office, and nobody else seemed to have seen the video I was referring to. It took me about 20 minutes and with numerous keywords typed, I finally found the video on YouTube (even though I'd originally seen it on Instagram). Everyone from the team saw it and agreed about how the Envy ad film was similar to this video (below).

With the plethora of content on social media and how each short video platform has personalised recommendations, there’s a high chance that most of the viewers who see this ad wouldn’t have seen the original video, just like how the rest of the team hasn't seen it.

 

Perhaps, the creative agency that worked on the video and the marketing team at Envy, also haven't seen the video, and it’s just a coincidence that the ads look similar.

 

We’ve been hearing this for years now - with social media, everyone is a creator. And some creators have a wider reach than others, even though the latter might have better content.

 

So if a creative from an advertising agency happens to see a piece of content, there's a high chance that the rest of his/her team and the client may not have seen it. The idea is then adapted into an advertisement for a brand.

 

Before doing so, should he/she have to speak to the original creator for permission to use the idea?

 

Or at least, give credit to the original creator?

 

And can the original creator legally claim that the idea was adapted?

 

(The author is managing editor, Campaign India.)