Copyright law protects expressions of ideas, not the ideas themselves; thus, claims based on unprotectable elements fail to establish infringement.

ORDER :

R.I. CHAGLA J.

1. By this Interim Application, the Plaintiff has sought an injunction restraining the Defendants from exploiting the film titled “DREAM GIRL -2” produced by Defendant No.1 on the grounds of

(i) alleged infringement of the Plaintiffs copyright in its purported literary work being the script titled “KAL KISNE DEKHA” which the Plaintiff claims was re-registered under the title “THE SHOW MUST GO ON”;

(ii) breach of confidence.

2. The Plaintiff states that he had written and developed an original story in the form of the Plaintiff’s script for the purpose of having it made into a film.

3. The Plaintiff states that the “idea” of the Plaintiff’s work is based on the concept of gender swap comedy. The protagonist, a male, dons the persona and performance of a female and tackles various comedic situations where his identity may get exposed.

4. The Plaintiff states that the arrangement of scenes, the comedic effect of specific situations, the profile of the characters and their development, all of which propels the story narrated in the Plaintiff’s script towards its climax/culmination and that the Plaintiffs script is an original literary work within the meaning of the Copyright Act, 1957.

5. The Plaintiff states that the contents of the Plaintiff’s script are also confidential and was shared by the Plaintiff with Defendant No.4 under strict conditions of confidence, in pursuit of the possibility of identifying a producer who would be willing to make a film with the Plaintiff’s script.

6. The Plaintiff submits that the Defendants have, in making the film DREAM GIRL 2 (“the Defendants Film”), infringed the Plaintiff’s copyright in the literary work initially titled “KAL KISNE DEKHA” subsequently changed to “THE SHOW MUST GO ON”(“the Plaintiff’s script”).

7. Upon the present Suit being filed, on 18th August, 2023 an Interim Application was taken out in the present Suit, on the basis of the trailer announcing release of the Defendants’ Film on 25th August, 2023. This Court by an Order dated 22nd August, 2023 refused to restrain the release of the Defendants’ Film without affording the Defendants an opportunity to file their replies, particularly in view of the Plaintiff having approached this Court at the eleventh hour prior to release, despite sufficient notice of the release date.

8. Thereafter, the Defendants Film has been released in theaters, and is being/has been exploited over other mediums.

9. The pleadings were completed in the Interim Application including the Defendant No.1’s Affidavit in Reply dated 31st August, 2023, the Plaintiffs Affidavit in Rejoinder thereto dated 10th October, 2023 and Defendant No.1’s Affidavit in Sur Rejoinder dated 29th November, 2023. The matter was thereafter argued finally at length and was reserved for orders on 16th December, 2024 granting the parties leave to file their Written Submissions.

10. Mr. Priyank Kapadia, the learned Counsel appearing for the Plaintiff has submitted that the Plaintiff’s script is an original literary work and is entitled to protection against infringement under the Copyright Act