Housefull 5 Makers File ₹25 Crore Defamation Suit Against YouTube & Mofusion Studios Over Teaser Copyright Issue: Report
The makers of Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez's Housefull 5 filed Rs 25 crore defamation suit each against YouTube and Mofusion Studios over the film's teaser copyright issue. For the unawares, last week, the teaser was removed from YouTube due to a copyright claim by Mofusion Studios.
However, as per the latest development, rapper Yo Yo Honey Singh reportedly provided a written declaration to Housefull 5's production company, Nadiadwala Grandson, stating that he alone owns the rights to the song Laal Pari which was used in the teaser.
According to a report in Bollywood Hungama, the singer also said that he sold the rights to the film's producers. After this, notices were delivered to YouTube and Mofusion Studios on May 12.
"Based on this strong piece of evidence, the producer has decided to take legal action. The management of the banner believes that if a copyright claim did arise, then the video-sharing platform should have checked with the makers, especially considering that the channel of Nadiadwala Grandsons Entertainment has more than 16 lakhs subscribers and has never been accused of such malpractice in the past. But YouTube didn’t do so and simply removed the teaser, thus denting their image," a source told the news portal.
Reportedly, the legal team of the production house has asked YouTube to re-upload the teaser or else pay damages amounting to Rs 25 crore.
On May 9, the teaser of the upcoming comedy film disappeared from YouTube and viewers were shown a message which read, "Video unavailable. The video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Mofusion Studios."
The teaser, however, is still available on Instagram. It was released by the makers on April 30. Take a look:
It may also be mentioned that the full song, Laal Pari, was unveiled by the makers in the first week of April and it is available on YouTube.
Housefull 5 also features Sonam Bajwa, Nargis Fakhri Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Nana Patekar, Chitrangda Singh, Fardeen Khan, Chunky Panday, Johnny Lever, Shreyas Talpade, Dino Morea, Ranjeet, Soundarya Sharma, Nikitin Dheer, and Akashdeep Sabir.
Directed by Tarun Mansukhani and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, the film is scheduled to release in theatres on June 6, 2025.
It marks the fifth instalment of the Housefull franchise. First released in 2010, Housefull was directed by Sajid Khan, who also helmed Housefull 2 in 2012. The third instalment, Housefull 3, was directed by the duo Sajid-Farhad, while Housefull 4 was directed by Farhad Samji.
With Housefull 5, it also becomes the first Indian comedy franchise to reach a fifth installment - a milestone in itself.
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