Copyright can't be claimed on common themes, says HC; junks plea against film 'Dream Girl 2'

Mumbai, Aug 6 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a writer's plea alleging copyright infringement by producer Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms of the Ayushmann Khurrana-starrer Hindi film 'Dream Girl 2', noting protection cannot be granted for common themes and plots.

A bench of Justice R I Chagla noted copyright and protection cannot be sought for common movie plots or themes and dismissed the plea filed by film writer Ashim Bagchi, whom it also asked to pay Rs 10 lakh to five defendants (Rs 2 lakh each) for making frivolous claims.

Justice Chagla referred to the 1993 Hollywood movie 'Mrs Doubtfire' which employed gender disguise as a core theme/idea, the subject around which 'Dream Girl 2' is centred.

Bagchi, in his petition, had claimed the 2023 movie 'Dream Girl 2' was a copy of a similar script penned by him in 2007.

In 2023, the high court had refused to grant any interim stay on the release of the movie, maintaining that Bagchi had approached it at the eleventh hour.

The court, after hearing the writer's plea, dismissed it on Wednesday.

Justice Chagla, in the judgment, said the plaintiff (Bagchi), by alleging copyright infringement, was seeking a monopoly over matters in which ex-facie no copyright subsists to begin with.

These features are neither original nor capable of protection under the law of copyright as they are mere themes/concepts/ideas, the HC observed.

Referring to Hollywood movie 'Mrs Doubtfire', which employed gender disguise as a core theme/idea, the HC said the plaintiff's script, which is based on such common themes, cannot be considered to be novel.

Justice Chagla added there are differences between the plaintiff's script and the movie 'Dream Girl 2'.

The court noted the plaintiff has made frivolous claims and hence this was a fit case for cost to be imposed.

It ordered the plaintiff to pay Rs 2 lakh to each of the five defendants in the case, including Balaji Telefilms Ltd, the director and script writer of the movie. PTI SP RSY