The High Court of Bombay has refused interim protection to Shemaroo Entertainment Private Limited against T-Series in a copyright infringement suit.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice Manish Pitale pointed out that since the plaintiff had prima facie failed to establish a case in its favour, temporary injunction to cover the irreparable loss it claimed to suffer could not be granted.
The High Court further brought forth the issue of delay in filing the suit. It said the documentary evidence placed before it established that the defendant had been publishing audio-visual songs of the films since 2012 but a cease and desist notice by the plaintiff was only issued in 2019, followed by filing of a suit in 2022.
The counsel representing Shermaroo pointed out that in 2004-2016, through various agreements, absolute and sole ownership to broadcast the films, including audio-visuals by owners/producers, were granted to them.
The assignment deeds executed between 1985-1990 in favour of T-Series only granted audio rights and not audio-visual rights, it added.
Shermaroo placed reliance on the Supreme Court verdict in the Midas Hygiene vs Sudhir Bhatia and Others, wherein it had said that in case of infringement of copyright, injunction should be given.
On the other hand, T-Series argued that the right to broadcast audio-visuals had been granted to them by the owners/producers and since no objections were raised by them, there was no ground for granting a temporary injunction.
A suit was filed by Shemaroo Entertainment Private Limited against T-series for allegedly publishing audio-visuals songs in May 2022, over which it has copyright in its YouTube channel.
To resolve the conflict amicably, the plaintiff before filing of the suit, had sent a cease and desist notice, yet its work was exploited by the defendant, which led to filing of the suit.