Copyrights | Intellepedia

Ilaiyaraaja’s Tune, Saregama’s Recording: Who Gets to Press Play?

In the case of Mr Ilaiyaraaja v. Saregama India Limited, a well known song from Moodu Pani became the centre of a layered copyright dispute. The court separated the music, lyrics, and sound recording, and asked a simple but difficult question: when a film song is recreated, whose permission is truly needed?

No Right to Be Seen: IndiaMart, ChatGPT, and the Limits of Platform Visibility

In the case of IndiaMart InterMesh Limited v. OpenAI Inc. and Others, the court dealt with a new kind of commercial grievance. IndiaMart did not complain about data collection or scraping. It complained that ChatGPT did not show IndiaMart links in response to user queries in the way IndiaMart wanted them to be shown. The court refused to convert that grievance into a legal right to visibility.

Sacred Cow, Groundless Threat: Delhi High Court on Copyrights and Amazon

In the case of Avaia Ventures Private Limited v. Wildship Enterprises Private Limited, a competitor filed successive copyright complaints on Amazon against a seller of silver plated Kamdhenu cow idols, armed with no copyright registration, no court proceedings, and a product page URL where the copyright number should have been. The Delhi High Court found that filing platform level takedown complaints without ever approaching a court of competent jurisdiction is a groundless threat within the meaning of Section 60 of the Copyright Act, 1957. The court also held, at a prima facie stage, that the Kamdhenu cow with calf is a sacred motif in the public domain and that mass commercial production of more than fifty units had, in any event, extinguished any copyright the complainant may have claimed.

Dhurandhar Song Rights: Oye Oye, Not So Easy

Promotional banner for “The Revenge: Dhurandhar” showing a lone man walking through a fiery, orange-lit urban setting, with bold metallic title text in the foreground and flames surrounding the scene.

In the case of Trimurti Films Private Limited v. B62 Studios Private Limited & Ors., the plaintiff claimed copyright ownership over Tirchi Topiwale from the film Tridev and objected to its use and remix in Dhurandhar: The Revenge. The defendants relied on a 1988 assignment agreement and earlier uses of songs from Tridev in other films. The court refused interim relief after considering the agreement, prior conduct, suppression allegations, and balance of convenience.

Golden Stag Hunts Blue Mangoes: Copyright Claim Falls Short

Golden stag glowing in a dark forest, symbolizing the copyright infringement dispute over Golden Stag and The House of Blue Mangoes.

In the case of Mr. David Davidar vs Ms. Sivasundari Bose, two novels set in South India turned into a long dispute over copyright and reputation. Ms. Bose claimed that The House of Blue Mangoes drew from her manuscript Golden Stag, while Mr. Davidar denied access, denied copying, and challenged the allegations.

10 Day IP Practice Courses to Build Practice Ready Professionals for an AI Enabled Practice

IP practice courses for AI professionals

Many students and professionals study intellectual property law, but only a few receive training that prepares them for actual practice. To help bridge this gap, Intellepedia’s education and training team of experienced IP attorneys is seeking interest in proposed 10 day capsular courses designed to create practice ready IP attorneys and practitioners for an AI enabled practice.

No Copyright in a Golf Swing of Ideas

In the case of Gurbaaz Pratap Singh Mann vs Kunwar Raghav Bhandari and Ors., the Delhi High Court looked at whether the defendants had copied the plaintiff’s protected expression in a golf format. It held that similarities related to ideas and game mechanics do not amount to infringement. It found that the defendants had not reproduced any protectable expression from the plaintiff’s work.

Copy Paste Creativity Fails the Originality Test

In the case of Bombay Metal Works (P) Limited vs Tara Singh Prop. R.S. Industries (Regd), a dispute arose over competing packaging designs for bicycle parts. The petitioner challenged the respondent’s copyright registrations on the ground that the designs were copied. The court looked at whether the impugned works were original and whether the registrations could stand.

No Euphoria for Pirates: Copyright infringement injunction against rogue websites

Banner with a purple neon city skyline, a judge’s gavel on the left, a hooded figure using a phone on the right, and the headline “NO EUPHORIA FOR PIRATES.”

The Delhi High Court granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favor of HBO, to protect Euphoria from online piracy ahead of its India release. The court noted that rogue websites could cause immediate commercial harm and directed blocking measures against the identified websites.

TV9’s News Clips Fair Use or Copyright Abuse

In the case of TV9, namely Associated Broadcasting Company Limited v Google LLC and Others, the broadcaster faced multiple YouTube copyright strikes for using short clips of real world events in its news programmes. TV9 argued that the clips were minimal, used only to report current events, and in several instances came from licensed sources, while some disputed clips were alleged to be used without licence only in a limited and illustrative manner. The court examined whether that use crossed the line into infringement.