Mitali Palnitkar
Published On:- February 27, 2022 at 13:47 IST
The City Civil Court of Hyderabad issued an Ad-Interim Injunction on the release of the upcoming reality show ‘Lock Upp’.
The Petitioner, Sanober Baig is the sole right holder of the story and script of the concept ‘The Jail’. The Order was issued by the Court after hearing and checking the documents provided by the Petitioner.
The Court concluded that it appears similar to ‘The Jail’ after taking on record the video clip of the trailer of ‘Lock Upp’. That was scheduled to be released on February 27, 2022; therefore, the Court passed an Order with urgent Notice prohibiting exhibition of the show in Electronic, Social, and other mediums.
Pride Media through its Proprietor, Baig owns the concept and was written by Shantanu Ray and Sheershak Anand. It was registered on March 7, 2018, under the Copyright Act and was also registered with Film Writers Association.
In the Plea, Baig described how he developed the concept and the details of money he invested in the concept development.
Baig stated that he was shocked when he watched the promo.
He added, “I have been in touch with Abhishek Rege from Endemol Shine for a long time and had several meetings about the subject in Hyderabad. He had promised that once the market gets better, we will get going.”
He further said, “The show was not only similar to his concept but was an absolute copy of it and that he did not imagine that the concept would be plagiarized to that extent. He prayed to the Court for Infringement of the Copyright and got a Stay Order.”
He informed the Court that he had requested the respective companies not to proceed with the concept but they turned a deaf ear and claimed that they had the right to stream as per schedule. Therefore, he went on to seek Redressal from the Judiciary.
He added that a Notice was issued to all parties involved and that they had the Acknowledgment for the same. Also, if the show goes on air, then it will lead to Contempt of Court.
In case the Copyright Infringement is proved, the Defendants shall be liable for consequences under Sections 51 and 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957.