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Krishika Lulla & Ors. v. Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 258 of 2013)Decided 15 Oct 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 258 of 2013
Justice Madan B. Lokur · Justice S.A. Bobde

Background

The complainant had written a short synopsis of a story titled "Desi Boys" and sent it by email to a friend. Later, the makers of the film "Desi Boyz", released in 2011, were accused of infringing copyright in that title. The complainant filed a criminal complaint under Section 63 of the Copyright Act, with added charges under Sections 406 and 420 IPC. The High Court refused to quash the complaint, and the accused then came to the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed both appeals and quashed the criminal case. It held that a title by itself is not a "work" in which copyright can subsist, and that the words "Desi" and "Boys" are common words without originality. It relied on established decisions from England, India and the Privy Council that titles are generally not protected by copyright. The complainant had himself admitted that he was claiming copyright only in the title and had not seen the film, so the complaint could not succeed. The Court observed that a title may still be protected through a passing-off action or a registered trade mark.

Lesson Learnt

The title of a book, song or film is generally not protected by copyright, so using a similar title does not on its own make someone a criminal infringer. A person whose title is copied may have a remedy through a passing-off claim or by registering the title as a trade mark.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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