$~10

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Date of decision: 11^th October, 2023

+

CS(COMM) 646/2023 & I.A. 18038/2023 & I.A. 20079/2023

HUMANS OF BOMBAY STORIES PVT. LTD. ..... Plaintiff

Through:

Mr. Abhishek Malhotra, Ms. Srishti

Gupta, Mr. Kartikay Dutta, Ms. Ishita

Goel, Advs.

Mob. No.

8979516789

versus

POI SOCIAL MEDIA PVT. LTD. & ANR.

..... Defendants

Through:

Mr. Deepesh Joshi, Ms. Bhavna Vijay,

Mr. Prashant Sthapak, Mr. Syed

Ashhar Anwar, Advocates. Mob. No.

9111105786, 7067638987.

CORAM:

JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1.

This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. Two storytelling platforms i.e. Humans of Bombay (hereinafter,

‘HoB’) and People of India (hereinafter, ‘PoI’) are in dispute with each other

in the present suit. 11.

The

Plaintiff

runs

a

website

called

www.humansofbombay.in , and the Defendants run a website by the name

www.peopleofindia.io.

3. The Plaintiff - Humans of Bombay Stories Pvt. Ltd. has filed the

present suit seeking an injunction restraining the infringement of copyright of

content consisting of the following:

(a) photographs,

(b) literary works forming the basis of the stories,

Digitally Signed

By:DEVANSHU JOSHI

Signing Date:14.10.2023 14:26

Signature Not Verified

(c) videos,

(d) creative expression, which includes the manner of presenting the

said stories.

4. The Plaintiff’s case is that it owns and operates a storytelling platform

called ‘Humans of Bombay’ since 2014 wherein stories from various

individuals are uploaded/presented as interviews, write ups, posts, etc. The

Plaintiff claims that it engages in substantial research, and approaches various

individuals (hereinafter, ‘subjects’) who are interested in narrating and

sharing their life stories. These stories are then converted by the Plaintiff into

audio-visual works and uploaded on their respective website and various

social media platforms (hereinafter, ‘platforms’).

5. It is averred that the Plaintiff has a unique method of selecting subjects.

After selecting and verifying the subjects, the Plaintiff's team or contracted

writers and authors craft the literary works that make up the stories, which

include synopses, captions, and scripts. The plaint avers that the copyrights

for all these literary works, produced as works for hire, are owned by the

Plaintiff. It is further stated that before publishing, written consent is obtained

from the subjects, ensuring an agreement between the subject and the Plaintiff

for a specified period, preventing others from telling the subject's story.

6. The plaint avers that HoB, due to their format, it has become one of the

nation's largest storytelling website/platforms. HoB is stated to have

successfully partnered with major brands for story sponsorships and calls to

action. Additionally, the Plaintiff is stated to be the official storytelling

associate for the Rajasthan Royals during the 2023 Indian Premier League

season. The Plaintiff has also harnessed the platform's extensive reach to

fundraise for significant causes also. As on date, the Plaintiff boasts of having

Digitally Signed

By:DEVANSHU JOSHI

Signing Date:14.10.2023 14:26

Signature Not Verified

26 lakhs followers on their Instagram page, and nearly 10 lakh followers as

well as over 750 Million views on their YouTube page.

7. Some examples of the Plaintiff’s content have been provided at

paragraph 14 of the plaint.

8. The cause of action for instituting the present suit arose in 2022, when

the Plaintiff noticed that the Defendant No.1-PoI Social Media Pvt. Ltd.

allegedly used the Plaintiff's literary works and creative expression. It is

further averred that the content shared by Defendant No. 2-Ms. Drishti

Saxena on these handles was, in many cases, either identical to the Plaintiff’s

content.

9. A Cease-and-Desist Notice was sent by the Plaintiff on 17^th February

2022 to Defendant No. 2, asking it t