The family of renowned cartoonist and painter Mario de Miranda has threatened to sue the Goa government and the organizers of the G20 meetings in the state for allegedly using the artist’s artworks without permission during the G20 events.
Miranda’s sons Rishaad Miranda and Raul Miranda said in a statement that they were shocked by the alleged “illegal” use of copyrighted work.
“It is shocking that when India and Goa are trying to impress the G20 countries by showing that we are a developed country, we infringe on the copyright of our late father’s works,” the statement read.
The statement added that before Miranda died in 2011, his family had set up the Mario Gallery, “which looks after his legacy in various ways, namely publishing books, organizing exhibitions, selling original paintings, authenticating pictures, giving permissions for usage, taking legal action against violators, making merchandise, etc…”
Goa has hosted multiple G20 meetings over the past three months, with the most recent one being the meeting of the G20 Tourism Working Group, held between June 19 and 22. More meetings are scheduled in the state in the coming months.
Gerard da Cunha, the curator of the Mario Gallery, told PTI that, they will be sending a legal notice to Chief Secretary Puneet Kumar Goel and the in-charge of G20 meetings in Goa, Sanjith Rodrigues.
Speaking about specific instances of alleged copyright violation, Cunha told PTI that the organizers had used a Miranda painting on a tile inside a miniature window, which was given to VIPs as a gift. “In another violation, 16 life-size fiberglass statues were displayed in Old Goa and Dona Paula. These statues are copied from figurines developed by the late Miranda,” added Cunha.
He also said that there could be more violations and urged the organizers of the G20 meetings to get permission for using Miranda’s artworks.
G20 Nodal officer Sanjith Rodrigues told PTI that the organizers have done their due diligence. He added, “If we are served with a notice, we will respond to it”.
Miranda, who hails from Loutolim village of South Goa near Margao, started his career in art as a newspaper cartoonist and died on December 11, 2011. A year later he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan posthumously.
(With PTI inputs)