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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
MANMOHAN, J.
Super Cassettes Industries Private Limited – Plaintiff
Versus
Rajasthan Infotech Media Pvt. Ltd. – Defendant
CS(COMM) No. 554 of 2016
Decided On : 06-12-2017
Copyright Infringement - Entertainment Industry - Copyright Act, 1957, Section 52A, Section 14(a)(iii), Section 14a(iv), Section 14(d)(iii), Section 14(e)(iii), Section 51
Fact of the Case:
The plaintiff, a music company, filed a suit against a cable operator for copyright infringement of its cinematographic films, sound recordings, and literary and musical works. The defendant did not appear in court, and the plaintiff provided evidence of the infringement.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the plaintiff proved the infringement and the defendant deliberately stayed away from the proceedings to frustrate the plaintiff's claim for damages. The court held the defendant liable for copyright infringement and awarded compensation to the plaintiff.
Issues: Copyright infringement, deliberate absence of the defendant, compensation for damages
Ratio Decidendi: The defendant's deliberate absence from the proceedings led to an adverse inference regarding the admission of the infringement. The plaintiff's evidence of infringement was accepted as true and correct, and the defendant was held liable for copyright infringement under specific sections of the Copyright Act, 1957.
Final Decision: The court decreed the suit in favor of the plaintiff, granting permanent injunction, costs incurred, and compensation of Rs. 16,20,000.
MANMOHAN, J.
1. Present suit has been filed for permanent injunction restraining infringement of copyright, rendition of accounts, delivery up, damages etc. The prayers made in the plaint are reproduced hereinbelow:-
“(i) An order of permanent injunction restraining the Defendant, their officers, servants, agents, partners and representatives and all others acting for and on their behalf from either engaging in themselves or from authorizing, the recording, distributing, broadcasting, public performance/communication to the public or in any other way exploiting the cinematograph films, sound recordings and/or literary works (lyrics) and musical works (musical composition) or other work or part thereof throughout India, that is owned by the plaintiff including all works whereon the plaintiff has shown its copyright under Section 52A of the Copyright Act or doing any other act that would lead to infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright;.
(ii) An order for rendition of accounts of profits directly or indirectly earned by the Defendant, their officers, servants, agents, partners and representatives and all others acting for and on their behalf from their infringing activities and unlawful conduct throughout India and a decree of amount so found due to be passed in favour of the Plaintiff;
(iii) An order of delivery up to the Plaintiff or its authorized representative by the Defendant, their officers, servants, agents, partners and representatives and all others acting for and on their behalf, of all infringing tapes, copies and negatives, etc bearing the copyrighted materials of the Plaintiff;
(iv) An order requiring the Defendants their officers, servants, agents, partners and representatives and all others acting for and on their behalf, to pay the Plaintiff damages to the tune of Rs. 20,01,600/- towards past damages and further grant future damages along with pendent lite and future interest @ 18% p.a. till the time of decretal amount is paid;
(v) An order awarding the costs of the present suit to the Plaintiff.”
2. On 1st October, 2015, this Court granted an ex-parte ad interim injunction in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendant. The relevant portion of the said order is reproduced hereinbelow:-
“I have heard the learned counsel for the plaintiff and perused the plaint as well as the documents annexed herewith which, prima facie, show that defendants are engaged in broadcasting/communicating to the public the cinematographic clips of films, recordings, literary and musical works of the plaintiff. In case ex-parte ad interim injunction is not granted, the plaintiff shall suffer loss and injury, inasmuch as balance of convenience is also in its favour.
Accordingly, till further orders, defendants are restrained from broadcasting, distributing and communicating to the public the cinematographic films, clippings, sound recordings and all related works including the musical works of the plaintiff.”
3. Since defendant did not enter appearance despite service, it was proceeded ex-parte vide order dated 6th July, 2017 and the ex-parte interim injunction was confirmed till disposal of the suit.
4. It is the plaintiff's case that it is one of the largest and most reputed music companies in the country and is the owner of a large repertoire of copyrighted works comprising cinematographic films, sound recordings etc. operating under the brand “T-SERIES”.
5. It is further stated that plaintiff’s business also includes giving licences to various organizations such as Broadcasting Organizations, Television Channels, FM Radio Stations, Multi-System Operators (MSO) and Cable TV Operators etc. for the use of its copyrighted works.
6. Mr. K.K. Khetan, learned counsel for the plaintiff states that the defendant, Rajasthan Infotech Media Pvt. Ltd. is a ground cable operator based in Bikaner, Rajasthan and is providing Cable Television services under the logos “BIKANER MUSIC” and “BIKANER SANSKRITI” to various subscribers having operation
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