Indian soap opera sneaks in Zelda music

Do you know how to say “copyright infringement” in Hindi? The folks behind an Indian TV series caught using Zelda music might be able to tell you. In at least one episode of the Hindi language soap opera Jeevan Saathi–Humsafar Zindagi Ke, the main theme of Nintendo’s popular adventure series crops up rather regularly.

Could this be an affectionate allusion to the beloved Zelda series, or just the mischief of a cheap TV crew? Hit the jump for more!

Produced by award-winning Bollywood comedy-actor Paresh Rawal, Jeevan Saathi tells the story of Viraj and her true love Neil, and how they overcame her scheming father, Ganondorf’s Vikramaditya’s dastardly plans. The soap opera aired on an Indian entertainment channel based in Mumbai from July 2008 to September 2009. Yet it’s use of iconic Zelda music was only recently discovered.

The episode clip embedded below features the familiar Zelda theme twice in its run-time. It can be heard briefly at 0:35, and again starting at 2:20. Both times the music runs for only a few seconds before cutting off. Whether or not the rest of the soundtrack is pilfered from other sources is unknown.

Hearing Zelda music used in a circumstance like this is strange, to say the least. Most likely, the theme’s inclusion wasn’t meant as a direct homage to any particular Zelda game. The content of the episode doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the legendary video game series. As could be predicted, the main Zelda theme itself, long associated with adventure and heroic deeds, feels extraordinarily out of place when dubbed over scenes of Indian housewives gossiping.

As much as I would like to give the good folks who worked on Jeevan Saathi the benefit of the doubt, something tells me they didn’t seek Nintendo’s permission to use Zelda music in their show. In fact, avoiding the cost of quality background music was almost certainly their intent from the start. Because India isn’t particularity famous for having many Zelda fans (despite the fact that Hyrule’s iconic gem currency–the Rupee–is named after actual Indian money) the show’s producers probably thought no one would notice the copyright infringement. Clearly they underestimated how inquisitive Zelda fans can be.

Using assets from the Zelda series without permission can be forgiven in nonprofit fan projects. In those cases, the borrowing falls under inclusive fair use rules. Jeevan Saathi, however, is clearly a commercial product. It’s producers can’t claim an exception to the exclusive rights Nintendo enjoys under copyright law.

With that said, the use of Zelda music in this Indian soap opera seems rather harmless to me. TV productions in Third World countries are often cash-strapped, and international copyrights haphazardly enforced. At least it isn’t exploiting the music to an unreasonable extent here. Because of this, I highly doubt Nintendo would ever bother taking legal action against Jeevan Saathi. The fact that this offending episode aired nearly four years ago, and is only now being noticed, means it probably isn’t worth getting riled up over.

What do you think about the inclusion of Zelda music in this melodramatic Bollywood love story? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: YouTube