The Madras High Court on Friday, cleared the decks for the release of Vijay Antony starrer ‘Pichaikkaran 2’ by dismissing an application by V. Rajaganapathy of Mangadu Amman Movies, urging the court to injunct the release of the movie on the grounds that it infringed his copyright over the storyline.
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Justice S. Sounthar rejected the application for an interim injunction but directed Vijay Antony Film Corporation Limited (VAFCL) to submit a statement of account of business done by the movie, by way of an auditor certificate, within 60 days after its release so that it could help in deciding the commercial civil suit.
The suit had been moved by Mr. Rajaganapathy, claiming the storyline of ‘Pichaikkaran 2’ based on a theme related to a brain transplant was similar to a movie produced by him in 2016 under the title ‘Aaivukoodam’. The plaintiff had sought to restrain the release of ‘Pichaikkaran 2’ until the disposal of the suit alleging copyright infringement.
On the other hand, advocate Vijayan Subramanian, representing VAFCL, told the court that numerous movies had been released, world over, based on the theme of brain transplants and therefore, it would be far-fetched for the plaintiff to claim copyright over the entire theme and prevent others from making a movie on it.
Asserting that VAFCL had not indulged in any infringement of copyright, the counsel brought it to the notice of the court that the actor-producer would suffer huge monetary losses if the movie was not allowed to be released.