Kerala-based rock outfit Motherjane has recently put out a post via social media alleging that former vocalist Suraj Mani has been forcing founding members Johan Thomas and Clyde D’ Rozario to reunite with former members Baiju Dharmajan, Deepu Sashidharan, and himself under the Motherjane, by terminating the current line-up.
The band further claimed that upon refusing the offer, they were threatened with legal prosecution over the usage of the name ‘Motherjane’, by Aum-i-Artistes, a record label to whom the band’s copyrights were assigned by the then lineup (John, Clyde, Suraj, and Baiju) in 2008. The band has declared they would take legal means to fight this situation.
On Monday, Motherjane posted the photo of a letter sent to them by Aum-i-Artistes Private Limited, which claimed that the company holds all the “IP rights including copyrights for the name of the Band ‘Motherjane’, lyrics, songs, sound recordings, and musical albums of Insane Biography (2001) and Maktub (2008), performance in public, etc.” based on an agreement signed on August 13, 2008.
Hence, refusal to rejoin the old line-up of the band under the Aum-i-Artistes label would disallow any other individuals or third parties from using the band name and its copyrights. Violation of which would result in legal action against the perpetrator. Apparently, the letter also revealed that Bajiu Dharmajan and Deepu Sashidharan have already agreed to reunite on Work for Hire basis for the company.
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The post alleged that the band has been getting “threatening emails and calls forcing (us) into reuniting with them and terminating our current bandmates”, among other important details. The letter also revealed that the Managing Director of the company Aum-i-Artistes Private Limited is Suraj Mani himself.
Motherjane was formed in 1996 by John Thomas, Clyde D’ Rozario, Laji George, Mithun Raju, Shyam, and Secil. The band went through some line-up changes and in 2000, vocalist Suraj Mani joined and was there till 2011. Guitarist Baiju Dharmajan joined forces with them in 1999 and left after a successful stint with the band in 2010. Deepu Sashidharan was a part of the same from 2004-2013.
The current line-up of Motherjane consists of Clyde D’ Rozario, John Thomas, Niranj Suresh on vocal, and Anubhav Langthasa on guitar. The band released an EP last year titled ‘1 1 1’, which is the first record to feature this current line-up of the band.
Watch Motherjane – Awoke here.