The Madras High Court has ordered notices to film director Bala’s B. Studios and producer Suresh Kamatchi’s V. House Productions on an appeal preferred against a single judge’s refusal to restrain them from releasing Arun Vijay-starrer Vanangaan over a title dispute.
A Division Bench of Justices M. Sundar and R. Sakthivel also ordered notice, returnable by September 24, to the Film and Television Producers Guild of South India (FTPGSI), represented by its president Jaguar Thangam, on the appeal preferred by S. Saravanan of Orange Productions.
The appellant had claimed to have registered the title Vanangaan with the FTPGSI in 2020 and renewed it periodically on payment of necessary charges. However, when he learnt that Mr. Bala and Mr. Kamatchi were making a movie with the same title, notices were issued to them.
Mr. Saravanan claimed that both the director as well as the producer had initially expressed their willingness to hold negotiations with him in order to avoid legal proceedings. However, subsequently, they backtracked, forcing him to file a civil suit.
Along with the suit, he had filed an application to restrain Mr. Bala and Mr. Kamatchi from releasing the movie produced by them jointly under their own banners. However, Justice P. Velmurugan dismissed the application on July 19, leading to the present original side appeal.
While refusing to interfere with the release of the movie, the single judge had said that the title could not be considered a literary work akin to a script and therefore, the question of copyright infringement would not arise at all.
“As per Section 13 of the Copyright Act, a title is not a copyright. In this case, the applicant is not claiming the right for the entire work, he is claiming the right only for the title. Under the above facts and circumstances, the applicant is not entitled to get the order of interim injunction,” the judge wrote.
Published - September 13, 2024 11:21 am IST
