A campaign by Jindal Steel & Power, titled 'The Steel of India,' won a silver and a bronze at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on June 18, sparking a controversy over creative credits. Wieden+Kennedy India claimed that they we...
A campaign by Jindal Steel & Power (JSP) that bagged a silver and a bronze at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity on June 18 is at the centre of a creative storm.
Wieden+Kennedy India has cried foul over being surpassed in the credits of the creative ideation of the campaign.
The work at Cannes Lions was entered in the 'film craft' category by Early Man Film, with Kondurkar Studio attributed as the creative ideation for 'The Steel of India' campaign.
The dispute dates back to March 2024 when W+K India approached the Delhi High Court, seeking a restraint on JSP from distributing and publishing the video on all platforms. It charged that the creative rendition was very similar to what W+K had presented to the company. "The Delhi High Court verdict clearly stated that prima facie the campaign was substantially similar to what we had presented to Jindal Steel. The matter was subsequently settled out of the court to (the) mutual satisfaction of both the parties," W+K India executives told ET.
A statement from JSP countered that, saying the sole credits unequivocally rest with Kondurkar Studio and Early Man Film and added the HC ruling did not acknowledge W&K as the creative agency of the concept.
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However, W+K executives feel slighted by the developments. "It is an established industry practice that copyright gets transferred to the client once the fees are paid, be it in a project, or a retainer. But the agency continues to be the creator of the idea," the executive added.
"We can only credit the persons or organisations we were associated with during our involvement in the project, which in this case is Kondurkar Studio," Ayappa KM, co-founder Early Man Film, told ET.
"It is not for a production house to decide who is the owner of the idea, even if they are entering the piece in awards," countered W+K India executives.
Amrish Kondurkar, founder and creative director of Kondurkar Studio, and a former employee of W+K India, revealed that he had quit the agency "months before" the ad was commissioned. "We designed a concept that is totally original and commissioned Early Man to work on it," he told ET.
