Pakistani singer and songwriter Zaainul Abideen has said that YouTube has sent a strike to the channel which uploaded the track ‘Maand’, which according to him is a copied version of his 15-year-old song ‘Chue Chue’.

“These songs are an asset which always remains. If someone releases my tune by their name and if the record label has big money and influence in the market, then it’s very easy to pick anyone’s music and copy it and release it to the record label,” he told Aaj News.

Originally launched in 2009, ‘Chue Chue’ gained popularity and significantly contributed to Zaain’s music career, earning him a nomination for Best Singer of the Year at the Lux Style Awards in 2010.

Last week, the singer released a video statement in which he shared clips of the two songs and accused Bayaan, Hasan Raheem, and Rovali of copying his debut song.

In his allegations, Zaain claims that the new song bears a striking resemblance to the melody of his hit. He expressed his frustration over the lack of permission, credit, or acknowledgement from the other artists regarding his original work.

“Firstly, I did not try to contact them as I wanted this matter to be addressed by those who release the songs, admit their mistake, tender an apology, and give me my due credit,” he said.

Zaain said that he contacted the YouTube after no one from the song makers contacted him. The singer said that he shared details and cassette to the video platform.

According to him, the platform admitted that its algorithm did not detect it but the human resource detected it and sent the strike to the platform.

He expressed his concerns about the perception of theft in society, stating that “while electricity theft is often not seen as a crime and is discussed with pride, music theft is treated as a joke.”

He was of the view that if there were legal repercussions for music theft, half of the producers from neighbouring countries in the 70s and 80s would be in jail.

Zaain said that people chase views, considering them a measure of success in singing. He provided an example, noting that even artist Chahat Fateh Ali Khan has received 28 million views for his song “Bado Badi,” yet he is not a singer and has no connection to singing.

He described the Chahat as “funkar”. Zaain emphasised that the number of views cannot accurately reflect an artist’s talent, as it was “merely a measurable metric and not the true essence of art.”

He also announced the release of his new song “Tere Ishq Mein” in celebration of the upcoming New Year 2025.