The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed a petition filed by the 1993 Bollywood film, Looter producer, wanted to stop the release of a web series with the same title, deciding that entering the title of a film with an industry body is purely a private system and does not make a statutory rights like copyright.
A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep Marne said that the registration given by bodies such as the unions of producers is an internal system among their members and there is no sanctity in the law. The bench said, “No law is correct on the associations of filmmakers, which are to give the title or any other copyrightly qualified works,” dismissing the petition filed by Sunil Sabarwal, the producer of the 1993 Hindi film Lootre, the producer of the 1993 Hindi film Lootre.
Argument
In his petition filed last year, Sabarwal claimed that Star India was violating its copyright by creating an eight-part web series called Lootre for its streaming platform, Disney+ Hotstar. He said that in 1993, he produced a film starring Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla, including Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla. The film was registered with the Registrar of Copyright, and its title was registered with the Western India Film Producers Association.
Saberwal contacted the High Court last year, after seeing that Star India was creating a web series called Lootre. Even though the series was released on Disney+ Hotstar in May 2024, Sabarwal sought his discount from streaming platform.
However, Star India argued that many Hindi films with the same title were released for years, such as Hera Feri, Akhin, Dilwale, Dostana, Kandar and Dosti. Therefore, a similarity in the title may not be a basis for claiming a copyright violation, and what is needed to be established is the similarity in the literary functions of two films, argued.
Accepting this argument, the bench said, “… As long as the story of two films is different, the title () will not give rise to an actionable claim under the provisions of the Copyright Act.”
The bench also said that the registration of the film with the Producers Association is a purely private system, which is only binding for its members and there is no purity in the law. Such a contractual right cannot be implemented against a non-member like Star India.
