ALT DIGITAL MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED Vs. PRIDE MEDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Civil Miscellaneous Appeal is preferred against the order dtd. 23/2/2022 passed in I.A. No. 272 of 2022 in OS No. 84/2022 by the XI Addl. Chief Judge, City Civil Court, Hyderabad.

(2.) Alt Digital Media Entertainment Limited (Alt Balaji) represented by its Chief Executive Officer, filed this appeal contending that the impugned order was passed without recording the reasons and without serving a notice to them and depriving an opportunity of being heard and it is in violation of Order XX.XIX Rule 3CPC. Respondent No.1 has not served the copy of document on which it relied and thus, failed to discharge their duties under Order XX.XIX Rule 3 (a and b) CPC. It is further contended that respondent No.1 filed IA No.272 of 2022 at the eleventh hour in spite of the public being aware of the release of reality show "Lockupp reality show'' from 1/2/2022. As 3rd party rights are created regarding the release of reality show, the balance _of convenience is in their favour. It is further stated that the 'The Jail' was registered with Screen Wnte Association, but not with the Copy Right Board of India. Moreover, respondent No.1 was not a party in whose name the The Jail' was registered with the Association and thus, he has no locus standi to seek relief against them and finally stated that the impugned order is prejudicial to them and is liable to be set aside.

(3.) In fact, the suit was filed by Pride Media proprietary Firm represented by its proprietor Abdul Haleem Baig for declaration and permanent injunction under sec. 62 of the Copy Rights Act in which he stated that the proprietary Firm was registered under the Telangana Shops and Establishment Act, 1988 on 10/3/2021 and the proprietor also became a member of "Indian Motion Pictures Association", in the process of producing a a TV show, he contacted the Writer and Director by name Shantanu Re, a reputed director and come up with the story by name the 'The Jail' and prepared script with 22 celebrities. The concept story is the reality show for 100 days and the story was registered in "Screen Writers' Association." They could not produce the same due to lock down and COVID -19 when they are gearing up to mobilize production, they came to know about the release of "Lockupp reality show" reality show on 27/2/2022. On seeing the promo, they found that it is not only similar to the concept of the 'The Jail' but also totally copied the concept as "Lockupp reality show", and thus, they infringed the Copyright of the plaintiff and liable for the consequences as per Ss. 51 and 52 of the Copy Rights Act. As such, they invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Sec. 62 of the Copy Rights Act. The cause of action arose when they prepared the script on 7/3/2018 and registered it in the name of 'The Jail' and also on 19/2/2022 when the defendants released promo in the name of "Lockupp reality show" reality show with a proposal to screen it on 27/2/2022. The suit was filed on 22/2/2022 along with IA No. 272/2022 for ad interim injunction against the defendants from releasing, exhibiting, publishing the series in the name of "Lockupp reality show" in theaters, OTT platforms, Youtube, and electronic social media.