2013 Supreme(Del) 703

High Court of Delhi
MANMOHAN SINGH, J.
Dorling Kindersley(India) Pvt. Ltd
Versus
Sanguine Technical Publishers & Others
O.M.P. 856 of 2012 & I.A.No. 4567 of 2013
Decided on : 01-07-2013.

Headnote:

Whether the rights granted under the agreement dated 15th January, 2007 could be reverted back to the respondent No. 4 after the passage of 5 years as the said agreement did not contain any term as mentioned in the agreement as a deeming fiction of law as per Section 19 and 30 A of the Copyright Act?

Fact of the Case:

The petitioner, Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd., entered into an agreement dated 14th December, 2009 with Respondent No. 1, a partnership firm, for co-branding the engineering titles, as mentioned under the Schedules of this Agreement, with the limited objective of building and developing the title for providing quality material to the students. The petitioner was given the exclusive rights to publish and market the engineering books or titles (including the present and future titles) of which all rights and authorizations for publishing the said books vested with the respondent No. 1. The respondent No. 4, who was a partner in the respondent No. 1 firm, resigned from the partnership firm on 11th February, 2012. It was informed to the petitioner that the copyright of the books authored/ co-authored by the respondent No. 4 would no longer be available with the respondent No. 1 firm. The petitioner filed an application under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act') seeking interim prayers as contained in the prayer clause of the petition pending the arbitration.

Finding of the Court:

The court held that the rights granted under the agreement dated 15th January, 2007 could not be reverted back to the respondent No. 4 after the passage of 5 years as the said agreement did not contain any term as mentioned in the agreement as a deeming fiction of law as per Section 19 and 30 A of the Copyright Act. The court observed that the agreement dated 15th January, 2007 was not for a limited period of 5 years, but was intended to be for the full term of the copyright. The court also held that the respondent No. 4 was not discharged from his liabilities towards the previous acts of the firm done before his resignation and that the said respondent No. 4 was thus bound by the contractual obligations. The court further held that the rights which Reed Elsevier was claiming were not independent rights but were claiming under the rights of the respondent No. 1 firm.

Issues: 1. Whether the rights granted under the agreement dated 15th January, 2007 could be reverted back to the respondent No. 4 after the passage of 5 years as the said agreement did not contain any term as mentioned in the agreement as a deeming fiction of law as per Section 19 and 30 A of the Copyright Act? 2. Whether the respondent No. 4 was discharged from his liabilities towards the previous acts of the firm done before his resignation? 3. Whether the rights which Reed Elsevier was claiming were independent rights?

Ratio Decidendi: 1. The court held that the rights granted under the agreement dated 15th January, 2007 could not be reverted back to the respondent No. 4 after the passage of 5 years as the said agreement did not contain any term as mentioned in the agreement as a deeming fiction of law as per Section 19 and 30 A of the Copyright Act. The court observed that the agreement dated 15th January, 2007 was not for a limited period of 5 years, but was intended to be for the full term of the copyright. 2. The court held that the respondent No. 4 was not discharged from his liabilities towards the previous acts of the firm done before his resignation and that the said respondent No. 4 was thus bound by the contractual obligations. 3. The court held that the rights which Reed Elsevier was claiming were not independent rights but were claiming under the rights of the respondent No. 1 firm.

Final Decision: The court rejected the prayer made in I.A No. No.646/2013 filed by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. The interim order passed on 12th September, 2012 shall operate uptil 14th December, 2013 on which date the period of 48 months from the date of execution of the agreement i.e. 14th December, 2009 shall expire. The main petition as well as pending applications are also disposed of.