An interview to an online channel was all it took for struggling filmmaker N. Gopi to trigger a necessary debate on the issue of plagiarism and the vulnerability of writers in the absence of legal contracts and non-disclosure agreements.
Since Thursday, Gopi's interview, in which he speaks about how Kaththi ’s story, credited to arguably the highest-paid filmmaker of Tamil cinema, A.R. Murugadoss, was allegedly stolen from him, has been widely shared online.
Even if Gopi’s version is disproved, the fact remains that struggling filmmakers are sitting ducks as they have no option but to narrate their scripts to multiple producers, thereby putting their intellectual property in the public space without any legal safeguards.
The industry’s response has been that allegations of intellectual theft are not unique to Tamil cinema. However, what the industry lacks are the institutions that can resolve these issues.
Sashikanth of Y Not Studios says such conflicts will continue to haunt the industry unless standard processes, such as clear legal contracts, are adopted across the board. “The system today operates purely on trust. I have known producers who only knew that their film was plagiarised from a foreign film after its release. This issue has, fortunately, created a space for having such conversations about the need for contracts where the filmmaker attests that the content is original, and to create awareness about how copyrights can be protected,” he says.
However, industry insiders say it does not make sense that an influential producer would sign a non-disclosure agreement with a struggling filmmaker before reading/listening to a script.
“One has to take a leap of faith that nobody would steal your script,” says filmmaker Deekay who claims to have narrated the script of his super-hit film, Yaamirukka Bayamey , to ‘at least 20 people’ before landing a producer. He says, “When you are yet to make a film, one is often asked not create a fuss when ideas are lifted by big names. How does one take on powerful names in the industry?” he asks.
Then, there are the grey areas. A.R. Murugadoss has refused to comment on the allegations, saying he has been advised to remain silent as the case is up for hearing soon.
However, sources close to him have raised a few questions: Why didn’t Gopi talk about the details of his script before the release of the Kaththi ? Also, they ask why Gopi cannot come up with a single bit of proof of correspondence between A.R. Murugadoss and himself despite his claims of knowing him well for over a year?
A source close to A.R. Murugadoss says that movies based on real-life scenarios always have similarities. “India is filled with stories of farmers fighting against corporates. It’s entirely possible that two people could get inspired to write a script on the same subject.”
The courts will probably have the last word on the issue. K. Rajasekaran, advocate and president, Intellectual Property Rights Bar Association, says the problem arises when the original work is not registered with the copyright registry, “Infringement can be found out if there is substantial reproduction such as punch dialogues, scene and sequences. Normally, injunctions are granted the moment the court knows there is prima facie infringement,” he says.
Can the Tamil Nadu Film Directors’ Union ban filmmakers found guilty of plagiarism?
“At the moment, there exists no such rule. If the concerned parties decide to accept the decisions of the union, we will look into the case,” says its secretary R.K. Selvamani.
(Additional reporting by Vivek Narayanan)
