Kantara Movie : Stay Of District Court's Order Returning Thaikkudam Bridge's Plaint Will Not Revive Injunction Against "Varaharoopam", Clarifies Kerala HC
In relation to the copyright dispute regarding "Varaharoopam" song in the Kannada superhit movie "Kantara", the Kerala High Court on Friday clarified that its order staying the Kozhikode District Court's order, which returned the plaint filed by music band Thaikkudam bridge against the film's maker, will not result in the revival of the earlier interim order passed by the District Court...
In relation to the copyright dispute regarding "Varaharoopam" song in the Kannada superhit movie "Kantara", the Kerala High Court on Friday clarified that its order staying the Kozhikode District Court's order, which returned the plaint filed by music band Thaikkudam bridge against the film's maker, will not result in the revival of the earlier interim order passed by the District Court against the use of the song in the movie.
The fact that a stay has been ordered on the District Court's order which returned the plaint will not mean that all the previous orders passed in the said suit have been revived by the High Court, said a bench of Justice P Somarajan.
The High Court passed this clarification today after an urgent mention of the matter was made by the counsel of Hombale Films Advocate Santhosh Mathew, who was appearing on caveat.
Yesterday, the High Court had stayed the Kozhikode District Court's order which returned the plaint filed by Thaikkudam Bridge against the film's producer for lack of jurisdiction.
The single bench of Justice P Somarajan stayed the District Court's order till December 8 while issuing notice to Hombale Films, director Rishabh Shetty, music director BL Ajaneesh, film's Kerala distributor Prithviraj Films LLP, streaming platforms Amazon, JioSaavn, Spotify etc., on the first appeal filed by Thaikkudam Bridge.
The Kozhikode Court had returned the plaint accepting the objection raised by Hombale Films that the suit has to be filed before the Commercial Court. The Court had earlier passed an ex-parte injunction order against the use of "Varaharoopam" song in the movie.
However, the interim order passed on November 2 by another Court in Kerala, the Palakkad District Court, against the use of "Varaharoopam" song is still in force. The second order was passed in a suit filed by Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Company Ltd (MPPCL), which claims to be the copyright holder of "Navarasam" song, the subject matter of the plagiarism dispute.
Recently, the Kerala High Court had refused to entertain the petitions filed by Hombale Films against the injunction orders passed by the District Courts stating that appellate remedies under the Civil Procedure Code ought to be exhausted.
Thaikkudam Bridge was represented in its appeal before the High Court by Advocates C Unnikrishnan, Ananda Padmanabhan, Uthara AS, Vijayakrishan S Menon, Nidhi Balachandran and Vivek Nair P.