Claims of plagiarism pile on Kollywood

November 20, 2014 01:58 am | Updated 09:21 am IST - CHENNAI:

Producer Elred Kumar is thinking of serving a legal notice on filmmaker Ravi K. Chandran for plagiarism

Producer Elred Kumar is thinking of serving a legal notice on filmmaker Ravi K. Chandran for plagiarism

The Tamil film industry has aggressively fought the issue of piracy, with some degree of success. But, the issue of plagiarism within its own ranks has not been taken seriously enough.

In the last few months, allegations of copyrights violations of scripts and plagiarism from foreign movies that have surfaced in Tamil cinema have exposed the extent to which the industry lags behind on two important issues: lack of awareness, and proper institutional mechanisms to deal with copyright infringement.

After filmmaker A.R. Murugadoss landed in a controversy over alleged intellectual theft, the Tamil Nadu Film Director’s Union announced that its members could register their scripts with the union itself, providing a partial solution to the problem.

In what could well be a game changer, producer Elred Kumar has said that he is thinking of serving a legal notice on acclaimed cinematographer and filmmaker Ravi K. Chandran. His charge is that the director plagiarised substantial portions of the 1978 film Midnight Express for his first feature Yaan , which was produced by Mr. Kumar’s production house, R.S. Infotainment Pvt. Ltd.

“Why must I be responsible if Columbia Pictures decides to sue my production house? This is clearly a breach of the undertaking that he signed saying that Yaan is his original work. Not just scenes, even characters have been lifted right out of Midnight Express . He must take responsibility. I never expected this from a celebrated cinematographer like Ravi K. Chandran,” said Mr. Kumar.

Meanwhile, Mr. Chandran maintained that Yaan ’s story had nothing to do with Midnight Express .

Legal experts agree that this case, if taken to its logical conclusion in the courts, could set a precedent. Lawyers dealing with copyright infringement disputes say that unless the duration taken to resolve cases is reduced, the situation will not significantly change.

“In India, the aggrieved party goes to court only as a way to put pressure on the other party into paying some sort of compensation. Rarely do cases reach the stage of judgements. These cases have to be resolved on a time-bound basis,” said M.V. Swaroop, a lawyer who has appeared in several copyright disputes.

This is also one of the reasons why Hollywood movie studios rarely sue Indian filmmakers and production houses for copyright infringement, he added.

While R.K. Selvamani, secretary of the union, said members have been “instructed” not to plagiarise from foreign movies, there are, however, no clear consequences for those who violate rules. “In the world of internet, it is easy to find out from where the content has been lifted. This is also new to us. If the original copyright owner approaches us, we will support them and take action,” he said.

U.S. copyright law miles ahead

Unlike in the U.S., where there have been a number of landmark judgements on the issue, the nuanced interpretation of copyright laws continues to be a problem in India.

‘Roth Greeting cards v. United Card Co’ (1970) was an important case, where the former sued the latter for copying words and designs used in seven of their cards.

The United Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, while noting that common-place words couldn’t be copyrighted, agreed that the characters portrayed, words, and the message and mood conveyed had ‘substantial similarity’.

‘Substantial similarity’ is a standard concept generally used in U.S. copyright law to determine plagiarism. The underlying similarity of ideas and the way in which the ideas are expressed are considered to resolve cases.

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