Harikrishna Dave v. Umesh Patel & Ors.
In the High Court of Bombay
Comm. IP Suit (L) 1434/2021
Before Justice G.S. Patel
Decided on February 18, 2021

Relevancy of the Case: Consent Terms between the parties for settlement of a copyright ownership dispute

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Copyright Act, 1957 (Section 19, 19A, 30A)

Relevant Facts

• The plaintiff claims to be the owner of copyright and relevant intellectual property rights in a story titled Ajaybi. This story is in the form of a Gujarati stage play called Kamal Patel v. Dhamal Patel.
• The plaintiff made allegations against the defendants for copyright infringement. Later, the parties have come to an agreement to resolve the dispute.

Consent Terms

• The plaintiff agrees to transfer all the intellectual property rights related to the story to Sony Pictures Films India Pvt. Ltd. As for the play, the plaintiff agrees to transfer all the rights in perpetuity to Merry Go Round Studios LLP for a lumpsum consideration.
• The plaintiff expressly acknowledges that he has no claim, right, or entitlement in the film “Aankh Micholi”, based on his story.
• The plaintiff is at liberty to produce a live performance based on the story in Gujarati, Hindi, and Marathi anywhere in the world. However, for English, he can only do so in India. This right will come into existence after three years from the date of the first commercial release of the film.
• Upon execution of these Consent Terms, the plaintiff agrees to unconditionally and irrevocably withdraw allegations made by him in the present commercial suit,

Final Decision

• The court dismissed the suit and interim application, with parties to bear their own costs for the execution of the Consent Terms.