-The Bombay High Court on Thursday refused to stay the release of film Sky Force in a copyright infringement case.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Manish Pitale passed the order on a petition filed by animator and creative director Sandeep Gangatkar, alleging similarities with his original work ‘Fire bird’.
It furthe rejected the petitioner’s request to pre-screen the movie before its release.
Justice Pirale, however, issued notice to the defendants, including Director of the film Sandeep Kewlani and Producers-Maddock Films and Jio Studios, directing them to file their responses within four weeks.
The Counsel appearing for Gangatkar claimed that the defendants had infringed the plaintiff’s copyright by using his original and unpublished script ‘Fire Bird’ as the basis for the movie.
He argued that the defenfants had access to Gangatkar’s script and used it without permission, leading to substantial similarities between Fire Bird and Sky Force.
Seeking action against the defendants, the Counsel said they produced the film by not only ransacking the Plaintiff’s expression of unique germ of the idea, but also copied detailed story elements from his script.
This was a clear case of infringement of the Plaintiff’s copyright in the script, he added.
As per the Counsel, after watching the trailer of the movie on January 6, Gangatkar immediately sent an urgent email to the defendants, requesting for a screening of the film.
He also sent repeated communications over the following days in an attempt to address the matter.
Despite his efforts to resolve the matter, the defendants failed to show genuine interest in addressing Gangatkar’s concerns, submitted the Counsel.
He apprised the Court that the plaintiff, thereafter, had multiple meetings with the Defendant No. 1, Defendant No. 2’s senior management and their solicitors, all of whom were stringing the plaintiff along to believe that they were willing to put an end to the dispute.
The plaintiff realised during the final meeting held on January 17 that the defendants were intentionally engaging in dilatory tactics to delay and frustrate his attempts at resolution, added the Counsel.
Gangatkar then moved the High Court, seeking among other prayers, an injunction to prevent the release and distribution of Sky Force.
The plaintiff specifically requested that an order and decree be passed to deliver up for destruction all material (promotional material, advertisements, etc) of Sky Force, starring Akshay Kumar, Nimrat Kaur, Veer Pahariya, Sara Ali Khan and others in existence till date.
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