Dorji Teas in Hot Water receives Legal notice from Shark Tank India makers
The makers of Shark Tank India has sent a legal notice to the subscription-based tea firm, Dorje Teas. The co-founder of the company Sparsh Agarwal informed that,the company served them legal notice because they showcased their participation on the show for the publicity. After receiving the notice form Sony Pictures Networks India, the startup is in a boiling situation.
The firm’s co-founder of Dorje Teas Sparsh Agarwal, received to the Shark Tank India platform last year and secured investments from Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal and Vineeta Singh totalling 
30 lakh for 15% equity, valuing the company at 2 crore.
30 lakh for 15% equity, valuing the company at 2 crore.
In a Linkedin post Agarwal mentioned that, they were served the notice over copyright violation for using these clips on YouTube and Meta ads. Apparently, Dorje Teas is not the only firm to have been issued the notice by Sony Pictures. He quoted, “We’re not the only ones — they’ve cracked down on each and every startup that appeared on Shark Tank.”
He further added, “While I understand the copyright laws supporting it, I don’t understand why they would do this. After all at Dorje Teas, and other companies like Skippi, Assembly, Perfora, Hoovu Fresh, Beyond Snack, Wakao Foods, Nasher Miles and so many others, are spending lacs every month to boost Shark Tank content, thereby giving free publicity and brand recall to the Shark Tank India brand.”
He pointed out that,startups such as Beyond Snack, Wakao Foods, Nasher Miles, Dorje Teas, Hoovu Fresh, Assembly, Skippi, Perfora, and many more spend thousands of dollars every month promoting Shark Tank content, which benefits Shark Tank India by providing free visibility and brand recall. He said that it went against the ethos of promoting small startups.
Through his post, the co-founder Agarwal told his users to look through his contract or see whether he signed any digital forms that said such while at the filming locations.
