BOLLYWOOD INTELLECTUAL INFRINGEMENT

CASES:

Group details:

Nikhil Waghalkar 141810008

Pratik Datir 141810010
Rohit tidke 141810015
Rushikesh Paratwar 141810018
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In this presentation, we are going to look at a few examples and see how
copyright works in this regard.
Before we move further, let’s see how the law defines a few key concepts: -
Author: This is quite simple – the author with respect to any work is the person
who causes the work to be created. There are different definitions of who the
author is based on the nature of the work. For example, in the case of a book,
the author is literally the author! In the case of song, it’s the composer and for
a movie, it’s the producer. There are more definitions given based on the
nature of the work.
Copyright: In law, copyright means that the author of any work, as mentioned
above, has the right to decide how other people can use that work. The work
can only be used if the author of the work gives permission.
Fair Dealing: This is an exception to the rule of copyright given in Section 52 of
The Copyright Act 1957. Basically, the idea of Fair Dealing is that it is okay for a
person to reuse a work that is under copyright, as long it is done in certain
limited amounts and for a specified purpose.

Now, let’s take a look at some movies and see how the law dealt
with copyright infringement in their case.

Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai

A popular film among lawyers and law students is the 1992 Oscar-winning
comedy My Cousin Vinny. The film features Joe Pesci as a quick-witted but
hapless attorney defending two innocent New York teens from a capital
murder charge in the Deep South. In 2009, 20th Century Fox filed a suit for
copyright infringement in the Bombay High Court against the Mumbai film
production company, BR Films, which was set to release Banda Yeh Bindaas
Hai. Fox alleged that the producers and director of Banda Yeh Bindaas
Hai blatantly created a “substantial reproduction” of My Cousin Vinny. Both
parties agreed on a settlement amount out of court under Section 89 of the
Civil Procedure Code. This section of the law allows for mutual settlement
between parties without intervention of the court. The movie, however, is yet
to be released.

Partner
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In 2007, Bollywood released the film Partner about a love guru, Prem, who

helps his clients in romantic matters. A character named Bhaskar approaches
Prem for help on how to woo his boss, Priya. Another character, Naina, finds
out about Prem’s job and sets out to expose him, resulting in the breakdown of
Bhaskar and Priya’s relationship. In the end, Prem makes up with Naina by
telling her the truth and Priya and Bhaksar are reunited.

The two films are nearly identical. Overbrook Entertainment, along with Sony
Pictures, contemplated a $30 million lawsuit against the producers of Partner.
Although cease and desist letters were sent to the makers of Partner, talks of a
lawsuit soon faded.

A cease and desist letter is a written communication demanding that the

receiver discontinue the actions that infringe the sender’s legal rights or
ownership. It threatens lawsuit if the alleged violation of the sender’s rights or
ownership does not stop and compensation for violations that have already
taken place. It is thus an enforcement strategy to settle a dispute without
litigation. A cease and desist notice in a copyright action may give rise to the
right to institute a suit under Section 60 of the Copyright Act to counter such a
threat, and ask for relief if there is no alleged infringement of the legal right of
the sender.