Bombay High Court: In the present case, applicant sought urgent ad-interim relief for restraining defendants from releasing/broadcasting/exploiting film titled “Sky Force”, which was to be released on 24-01-2025. A Single Judge Bench of Manish Pitale, J., stated that applicant could not claim ignorance of various materials that were available in the public domain pertaining to the film “Sky Force”, at least since October 2023. The Court rejected the prayer for ad-interim relief and held that defendants would suffer immense loss, if ad-interim stay of release of the film was granted, particularly when applicant had approached this Court at the eleventh hour and just before release of the film.
Background
Applicant claimed that defendants were infringing upon his copyright in a script titled “Fire Bird”, which was stated to be his original literary work, as the story of the film copied the script in which applicant had copyright. Applicant came to know about it on 08-01-2025 when the trailer of the film “Sky Force” was released. It was submitted that when applicant approached defendants, they discussed the issues being raised, but on 17-01-2025, they completely denied the claims of applicant.
Applicant stated that his script was based on historical facts pertaining to the 1965 war between India and Pakistan and particularly about an air raid conducted by the Indian Air Force in Sargodha, Pakistan. He stated that he had weaved a story around this central theme by substantial creative inputs, which led to the script “Fire Bird” and stated that he forwarded the script to Defendant 1 in the year 2014 as there was a Memorandum of Understanding between them. Applicant submitted that when the trailer of the film “Sky Force” was released by defendants, he became aware of the resemblance between his script “Fire Bird” and the film “Sky Force” and thus, he filed the present suit.
It was submitted that there was no question of delay, as the material in the public domain, upon which defendants had relied, did not show that the actual story of the film “Sky Force” was in the public domain and it was only when the trailer was released that applicant became aware that defendants had copied the creative elements put into the basic theme by applicant in his original literary work.
Analysis, Law, and Decision
The Court relied on Dashrath B. Rathod v. Fox Star Studios India Pvt. Ltd., 2017 SCC OnLine Bom 345 and opined that in matters such as the present case, the aspect of delay on the part of applicant in approaching the Court assumes significance, particularly when the film was about to be released and applicant chose to approach the Court at the eleventh hour.
The Court noted that the teaser of film “Sky Force” was released on 02-10-2023 and was in the public domain, but applicant stated that as the teaser of the film “Sky Force” did not disclose any creative elements that were original to applicant ’s script, there was no reason for applicant to approach the Court or seek any restraining orders. The Court further noted that on 11-03-2024, on website “ottplay.com”, a specific release referred to the fact that the film “Sky Force” was announced on 02-10-2023, inspired by India’s 1965 retaliatory attack on Pakistan’s Sargodha airbase and therein specific details about the air combat between the Air Forces of India and Pakistan on 06-09-1965, were stated. It was also stated that the film “Sky Force” was written by Defendant 1 and was also being co-directed by him.
The Court stated that applicant could not claim ignorance of various materials that were available in the public domain pertaining to the film “Sky Force”, at least since October 2023. The Court also stated that it showed that applicant waited for the film to be produced and when it reached the stage of being released, he rushed to the Court raising claims on the basis of copyright in the original script.
The Court stated that it did not occur to applicant after noticing such material in the public domain, starting from 02-10-2023, that his original work could have been used for the film “Sky Force”. The Court opined that being a person entrenched in the entertainment and film industry, it could not lie in the mouth of applicant that he was not aware about such material on websites concerning the said industry or even the print media, including newspapers like the Times of India and the Statesman.
The Court noted that Defendants 2 and 3 had invested substantial sums of money and that the domestic and overseas theatrical rights had been licensed to specific parties with more than 2500 domestic theatrical screens being booked. The music rights of the film had been assigned to a company and advance bookings for the theater screens had already begun with the delivery of the film material for the theatrical exhibition having been completed.
The Court stated that in the present case, the proceedings were not only delayed but could be treated as litigation strategy on applicant’s part to claim urgent circulation and to seek ad-interim reliefs at the eleventh hour when the film was about to be released.
The Court held that the balance of convenience was clearly in favour of defendants, and they would suffer immense loss, if ad-interim stay of release of the film was granted, particularly when applicant had approached this Court at the eleventh hour and just before release of the film. The Court, therefore, rejected the prayer for ad-interim reliefs.
The matter would next be listed on 17-03-2025.
[Sandeep Gangatkar v. Sandeep Kewlani, Interim Application (L) No. 2143 of 2025, decided on 23-01-2025]
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Applicant: Hiren Kamod a/w Ravindra Suryawanshi, Anees Patel, Prem Khullar, Tanvi Nandgaonkar, Archis Bhatt, and Amogh Prasad Khadye i/by Bar & Brief Attorneys for the Applicant/Plaintiff.
For the Defendants: Venkatesh Dhond, Senior Advocate, a/w Anand Mohan and Nirali Atha i/by Dua Associates for Defendant 1; Ravi Kadam, Senior Advocate, and Ashish Kamath, Senior Advocate, a/w Ameet Naik, Madhu Gadodia and Megha Chandra i/by Anand & Naik for Defendant 2; Birendra Saraf, Senior Advocate, a/w Ashwin Dave and Reshma Ranadive i/by A. S. Dayal & Associates for Defendant 3.