Point of Law: There can be no copyright in an idea, subject-matter, themes, plots or historical or legendary facts and violation of the copyright in such cases is confined to the form, manner and arrangement and expression of the idea by the author of the copyrighted work.

JUDGMENT :

1. This is a plaintiff’s appeal from an order of Mr. Jitendra Kumar Sinha, the learned District Judge, Ghaziabad, rejecting his application for temporary injunction in a suit for infringement of copyright.

2. The suit was instituted, complaining infringement of a copyright owned by the plaintiff relating to a story-screenplay-dialogues for a feature film, registered with the Copyright Office at New Delhi under Registration No. L-28822/2007 dated 16.07.2007. The literary work aforesaid was registered under the name of ‘Highway-39’. The aforesaid literary work shall hereinafter be referred to as the ‘copyrighted work’. The suit, wherein the temporary injunction application was made, was instituted some time in the month of December, 2019 and registered on the file of the learned District Judge, Ghaziabad as Suit no.2 of 2019. The following reliefs have been claimed in the suit against the two defendants, who are the respondents here:

“A. pass a decree of Perpetual/Permanent injunction:

i. by restraining the defendants, jointly and severally, by themselves or acting through any agent or any other such person from infringing the registered copyright of the plaintiff in respect of his story and screenplay work titled as 'Highway-39' from converting and adopting the same into a motion picture/feature film in any name whatsoever;

ii. by restraining the Defendants, jointly or severally, by themselves or acting through their agents or any such person from producing, making, promoting, publicizing, releasing, communicating to public about the infringed feature film.

B. pass a decree of Mandatory injunction directing the defendants to jointly or severally:

i. to deliver all versions of the story/script/screenplay (literary work), reels and/or the produced work based on the registered copyright work of the plaintiff pertaining to the infringed feature film;

ii. to remove from internet and other similar platforms, including social media pertaining to the defendants and/or of social media account of any of the actors or any other such person involved with the production and making of the infringed feature film, including the removal of any and all promotional material (including posters, trailers and teaser) of the infringed feature film;

C. pass a decree for the rendition of accounts of the advance amount received by the Defendants from the Distribution Companies/Television Channels/Internet Television Network by selling the distribution rights/satellite rights/streaming rights respectively of the feature film made by the defendants by infringing the copyright of the plaintiff in the process of producing the infringed feature film;”

3. It would be apposite to give a more detailed account of the facts giving rise to this appeal. The plaintiff-appellant, Uday Prakash, who shall hereinafter be referred to as the ‘plaintiff’, is claimed to be a Hindi Poet, Scholar, Filmmaker, Journalist and one who has worked as a Professor with Central Universities. The plaintiff also claims to have worked as an Administrator with the Government of India, but which department, is not explicit in the plaint. He also says that he has been an Editor, Researcher and Television Director with the National and Private TV Channels. He writes for major national dailies and periodicals on issues of social and cultural significance. There is an elaborate pleading by the plaintiff, showing his established scholarly status, besides an impressive list of accolades that stand to his credit in the form of prestigious literary awards and literary works of repute.

4. It is the plaintiff’s case that he conceived, conceptualized and set about a venture to write a screenplay (film script), that is to say, the copyrighted work, already introduced hereinbefore. The plaintiff says that he completed the copyrighted work and got the same registered with the Film Writers Association, Mumbai. The aforesaid literary work was submitted to the Copyright Office, New Delhi, where it was reg