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Court dismissed Pocket FM's claim that they learned about the video series in early June 2024. As the series is scheduled to launch at midnight, the court concluded that it would be unfair to issue an injunction without solid evidence
The Delhi High Court, on Thursday, rejected a plea filed by Pocket FM seeking temporary injunctions against the release of a television series named ‘Yakshini’, on grounds of lack of substantial evidence. The bench noted that besides the claims regarding similarities in the characters ‘Yakshini’ and ‘Aghori’, there was no evidence suggesting that Disney+Hotstar violated the copyright in the expression of these ideas.
The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna held, “It may be observed that aside from the averments that there is similarity of the character ‘Yakshini’, character of ‘Aghori’, and the similarity in description of the scenario, at this stage, there is nothing from where it can be inferred that there is a copyright violation of the ‘expression of idea’ by defendant No. 1”.
Represented by Senior Advocate Darpan Wadhwa, Pocket PM asserted that they licensed original literary works and adapted them into audio formats for its platform. They highlighted an agreement with Anand Usha Borkar, assigning rights to ‘Yakshini’, which they developed and launched in 2021. Senior Advocate Wadhwa alleged that ‘Disney+Hotstar’ had produced a similar television series without authorization.
Senior Advocate Wadhwa claimed that Disney+Hotstar misrepresented its connection to ‘Yakshini’, potentially damaging Pocket FM's established goodwill. They sought protection against this alleged infringement, including damages totaling at least Rs. 2,00,01,000.
The court noted that the initial observations of the plaint portrayed that this was a preliminary injunction before the release. However, the court also acknowledged that news of the video series first surfaced on Twitter on 10th May 2024, followed by a report on 123telugu.com on 21st May 2024. Subsequently, a trailer was uploaded on YouTube on 27th May 2024, announcing the series launch scheduled for 13th June 2024 at midnight.
The court clarified that copyright does not protect ideas, themes, plots, or historical facts, but rather the specific form, manner, arrangement, and expression of these ideas by the author. The court remarked that while the plaintiff may claim an idea rooted in mythological stories. “It is a character which has been existing since ages and finds mention in various scriptures as well, details of which are available on Wikipedia”, the court added.
The court noted that even though Pocket PM produced an audio series based on this concept, there was insufficient evidence to assert that Disney+Hotstar's adaptation of the ‘Yakshini’ character in their video web series closely resembles or copies the work. “The similarity of name cannot be the sole criteria, especially because it is a mythological character on which admittedly various works, movies and books are already available”, the court observed.
“Prima facie, there is nothing to reflect that there is copyright violation of expression of idea as is asserted by the plaintiff. Once, the web series has already been slated to be released today itself, no prima facie case is made out”, the bench added.
Court listed the connected matters on July 10, 2024 for consideration.
Case Title: Pocket FM Private Limited v Novi Digital Entertainment Private Limited & Anr. (2024:DHC:4752)
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