BALAJI TELEFILMS LTD Vs. AFTAB PICTURES PVT LTD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard. The learned counsel for the plaintiffs, who argued in support of the notice of motion, contended that the plaintiffs are the buyers of all the copyright in respect of the original Tamil film "THULLATHA MANAUM THULLUM". The motion is also supported by various affidavits submitted on behalf of the plaintiffs in order to prima facie establish that the plaintiffs are entitled to the copyright in respect of the said Tamil film so as to produce a Hindi film based upon the same script as that of the original Tamil film. It is the grievance of the plaintiffs that the defendants infringed upon the legal rights of the plaintiffs to produce a Hindi film based upon the original Tamil film "Thullatha Manaum Thulium", and produced the Hindi film "SUN ZARRA" in order to deprive the plaintiffs of their valuable legal right, title and interest of which they are lawful owners under a contract which has been entered into validly with the owners of the copyright of the said original Tamil film. In support of the motion, script in English in respect of the original Tamil film is annexed along with the affidavits as also the copy of the Agre 2ment under which the plaintiffs have become the lawful buyers in respect of the copyright. Tie plaintiffs have also annexed the copy of :he script of the film "Sun Zarra" in order to prima facie show that the defendants are liable for infringement of the copyright.

(2.) Learned counsel for the plaintiffs invited my attention to the provisions regarding infringement of copyright in the Copyright Act, 1957 (herein after referred to as "the Act") to urge that since the plaintiffs are the exclusive lawful owners in respect of copyright of the said original Tamil film, nobody else, except with expressed authority from the plaintiffs, was entitled to reproduce or copy the script from the said Tamil film. Under Section 51 of the Act, there is a provision indicating statutory fiction denotes various circumstances where copyright is said to have been infringed. Prima facie the plaintiffs had succeeded in establishing infringement of their copyright by or on behalf of the defendants. The plaintiffs, therefore, were granted relief of ad-interim injunction during the pendency of the suit. The defendants had challenged the order granting the ad-interim relief but were not successful.

(3.) Be that as it may, considering the affidavits on the record as also the annexures to the plaint and the provisions of the Act and since a prima facie case of infringement of the plaintiffs' copyright had been made out, with the view to enable the learned counsel for defendant Nos.l, 2 and 7 to seek instructions as to whether the defendants are ready and willing to furnish minimum monetary security in the sum of Rs.21 lakhs in favour of the plaintiffs in the event the plaintiffs ultimately succeed at the final hearing in the suit. Therefore, the motion was adjourned yesterday to today.