LI Network
Published on: October 28, 2023 at 17:07 IST
The Kerala High Court has put an end to the copyright dispute surrounding the Kannada blockbuster movie “Kantara.”
The case pertained to allegations of plagiarism concerning the song ‘Varaharoopam,’ which was claimed to have been copied from the ‘Navarasam’ song of the Thykkudam Bridge band.
The Court quashed the criminal case filed against the film’s producer, director, distributor, and music composer under the Copyright Act.
This ruling came in the wake of a settlement agreement reached between the ‘Kantara’ team and Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Ltd., the complainant holding the copyright for the ‘Navarasam’ song. As a result, the High Court nullified the FIR filed under Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957.
Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan oversaw the case and dismissed all criminal proceedings against the film’s producer, Vijay Kirgandur; director, Rishabh Shetty.
Kerala distributor, Prithviraj Sukumaran; and the song’s composer, Ajaneesh Loknath.
The Court justified this decision based on the settlement agreement that had been reached, effectively putting an end to the legal dispute.
In reaching this conclusion, the Court referenced prominent judgments from the Supreme Court, including State of Madhya Pradesh v Laxmi Narayan and Others (2019), Gian Singh v. State of Punjab and another (2012), and Narinder Singh and others v. State of Punjab and another (2014).
These decisions, under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, allowed the High Court to exercise its authority to quash the criminal proceedings.
Senior Counsel Joseph Kodianthara, acting on behalf of the ‘Kantara’ team and guided by Advocate Vijay V Paul, informed the Court that both parties had reached a resolution, and the criminal proceedings should be terminated. It was also stated that a settlement agreement had been formally entered into, with no objections from the complainants regarding the quashing of the criminal case.
Consequently, the Court quashed the criminal proceedings initiated against the petitioners, as outlined in Crime No.703/2022 of Kozhikode Town Police Station.
Case title: Vijay Kirgandur v State of Kerala & connected cases