The Bombay High Court recently dismissed an application for ad-interim injunction by Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. (“Plaintiff”) against Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd. (“Defendant”) from using songs of 24 cinematographic films on which the Plaintiff alleged to have copyright ownership.
It was the Plaintiff’s case that the Defendant’s use of these songs without license from the Plaintiff infringed Plaintiff’s rights in these songs which it acquired from the true and first owner of these songs by way on assignments.
The Defendant, on the other hand, submitted that, the Plaintiff has not placed any assignment agreement on record to establish that it as copyright over these songs and that it has the right to sue. The Defendant also submitted that the suit was fraught with delay of 5 years and there was an acquiescence of Defendant’s acts on the Plaintiff’s part since the Defendant have been uploading these songs from 2012 onwards.
The court, while agreeing with the Defendant, held that, the Plaintiff took a considerable time to file the present suit even after being aware of the act of the Defendant. The court also observed that the Plaintiff had not submitted the documentary proof of assignments to establish its rights in all the films. The court, accordingly, dismissed the application for ad-interim injunction moved by the Plaintiff.
Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. vs Super Cassettes Industries Pvt. Ltd. & Ors. [COMMERCIAL IP SUIT NO. 297 OF 2022].