‘Humans Of Bombay’ And ‘People Of India’ Can’t Use Each Others’ Copyrighted Work, No Monopoly In Running Storytelling Platform: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that storytelling platforms Humans of Bombay and People of India cannot use each other’s copyrighted work but added that there can be no copyright claim for individual's private photos which are sent to either platforms.

Justice Prathiba M Singh decreed the suit filed by Humans of Bombay against People of India alleging copyright infringement of its content.

The suit alleged that the portal People of India had identical content as that of Humans of Bombay and that large number of images and videos were replicated and used on its social media platforms.  Humans of Bombay alleged that People of India had completely replicated its business model, including the stories.

While closing the suit, the court noted the stand of People of India that Humans of Bombay is not a unique platform and that other platforms with similar idea models are being operated.

People of India also submitted that such similar platforms “imitate” the platform Humans of New York which started in 2010 and thus, Humans of Bombay cannot raise any grievance.

Justice Singh also recorded Humans of Bombay’s stand that it had no objection to People of India running its platform as long as it does not copy its images.

Decreeing the suit, the court said that it is a settled legal position that there is no copyright in an idea. However, it added that if “expression of idea” is copied, it would constitute infringement of copyright.

The court said that there cannot be any monopoly in running of a story telling platform and that such platforms ought to adopt “their own creative expression to communicate and disseminate their stories.”

It added that the act of copying identical images and the literary content and how the stories are depicted “would be exclusive to the platforms.”

The court further said that if photographs are commissioned or any videos are produced by the two platforms in the suit, then the copyright would be vested in respective platform.

The suit sought an injunction to restrain People of India from infringing Humans of Bombay’s copyrighted works including its content, literary works, films and creative expressions published on its website as well as Instagram handle and YouTube channel.

Case Title: HUMANS OF BOMBAY STORIES PVT. LTD. v. POI SOCIAL MEDIA PVT. LTD. & ANR.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 947