The plaintiff failed to establish exclusive copyright and damages for the film 'VELLITHERAI', leading to the dismissal of the suit.

JUDGMENT

1. The plaintiff has filed this suit for the following reliefs:-

st nd a) Direct the 1 and 2 defendants, jointly and severally to pay to the plaintiff a sum of Rs.2,25,00,000/- (Rupees Two Crores and twenty five lakhs Only) towards damages, loss of business and restitution of unjust enrichment together with interest at rate of 12% per annum from date of plaint till realization;

b) Grant an order of permanent injunction restraining the first and second defendants jointly and severally, their men, staff, agents, servants, employees, programmers, assigns, representatives, distributors, dealers and all other persons claiming through or under them or however otherwise from in anyway, directly or indirectly broadcasting, reproducing, publishing, telecasting, adapting or creating any derivative works of the films “VELLITHERAI” or any part of the films or in any other way infringe the plaintiffs’

exclusive copyrights over the said movies;

c) Direct the first and second defendants to surrender to the plaintiff for destruction all CDs, DVDs, Blu Ray Discs, hard drives and any other electronic storage media containing the movies “VELLITHERAI” or any part thereof;

st nd d) Directing the 1 and 2 defendants to pay costs of the suit; and e) Pass such other or further orders.

2. Plaintiff, a company incorporated on 06.06.2007, purchases copyrights from their copyright holders of various films by paying in lump sum amounts to them to broadcast them exclusively through their channel on platforms such as cable TV, DTH (Direct to Home), TV, web TV etc. The plaintiff generates revenue generated from advertisements during the broadcast of films. The dispute in the present case pertains to a Tamil Feature Movies “VELLITHERAI” jointly produced by the 3^rd defendant to the 5^th defendant.

3. The plaintiffs’ case is that the Tamil Feature Film titled “VELLITHERAI” was originally produced by the 3^rd defendant to the 5^th defendant, Moser Baer India Pvt. Ltd., Mirchi Movies Limited, Prakash Raj respectively.

4. The plaintiff signed Ex.P2 Assignment Agreement dated

28.12.2007 with these three defendants namely Moser Baer India Pvt. Ltd., Mirchi Movies Limited and Prakash Raj respectively for a total consideration of Rs.1,25,00,000/- (Rupees One Crore Twenty Five Lakhs). Thus, according to the plaintiff, the plaintiff became an exclusive assignee of copyright over the Tamil Feature Film “VELLITHERAI”

under Ex.P2 Assignment Agreement dated 28.12.2007.

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5. It is the case of the plaintiff that the 1 defendant, in violation of the plaintiffs’ exclusive copy right and broadcast rights over Tamil Feature Film “VELLITHERAI” under Ex.P2 Assignment Agreement dated 28.12.2007, had illegally broadcasted the Tamil Feature Film “VELLITHERAI” on 21.10.2018 at 7:30 p.m. on its channel “Thiraiulagam” with Logical Channel Number (LCN) 1853. The plaintiff st thus issued Ex.P5 Legal Notice dated 03.11.2018 to the 1 defendant and nd the 2 defendant.

6. A similar suit has been filed in respect of the Tamil Feature Flim ‘BOSS (ENGIRA) BASKARAN’ in C.S.(Comm.Div.) No.605 of st

2019 which was telecasted on 18.10.2018 against the 1 defendant and nd the 2 defendant herein and two other defendants therein. There also the plaintiff herein along with one Anjugam Films Private Limited sough for similar relief against the 1^st defendant and the 2^nd defendant herein for telecasting Tamil Feature Film ‘BOSS (ENGIRA) BASKARAN’. A separate judgment has been pronounced today based on the reasoning in this judgment. The Suit has been dismissed.

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7. The 1 defendant defended the telecast of the Tamil Feature Film “VELLITHERAI” on 21.10.2018 in its channel “Thiraiulagam” on the strength of Ex.D3 Service Agreement dated 04.04.2018 signed with the 2 defendant.

8. According to the plaintiff, Ex.D3