‘The White Tiger’ Copyright Infringement Controversy

The recently released film 'The White Tiger' which is based on Arvind Adiga’s Booker prize winning novel of the same name starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Rajkummar Rao, and Adarsh Gourav in the lead role was caught into legal controversy just a day before the release of the film. On 21st January 2021, a suit (John Hart Jr & Anr. v. Mukul Deora, CS(COMM)38/2021) was filed by Mr. John Hart Jr, a Hollywood producer to seek a ‘Last-minute Injunction’ against the film ‘The White Tiger’, on the grounds of copyright violations.

For the sake of brevity, ‘Last minute Injunction’ means that the Plaintiff can file a suit before the courts to seek an Injunction at the last minute when the Plaintiff had no erstwhile information of the action/deed in question.

Backdrop of Case

A suit was filed under Order XI Rule 1(4) of the Commercial Courts Act read with section 151 of CPC to injunct the release of the film ‘The White Tiger’. It was submitted before the Hon’ble High Court that Mr. John Hart Jr (hereinafter referred to as ‘The Plaintiff’) by virtue of a Literary Option/Purchase Agreement dt. 4th March 2009, vested with exclusive copyright to make a movie adaptation of the book ‘The White Tiger’ authored by Mr. Aravind Adiga and his right continues till date and is unchallenged. In October 2019, the Plaintiff came to know that the OTT platform ‘Netflix’ was in the process of making and releasing the film titled ‘The White Tiger’ and he through his legal representatives had served a cease and desist notice to Mr. Mukul Deora (hereinafter referred to as ‘The Defendant’) and Netflix on 4th October 2019. Hence, allowing the movie to be released on the Netflix platform would result in irreparable injury, both financial and emotional.

It was submitted by the Defendant that the cause of action, for the plaintiff to approach the Court accrued as far back as in October 2019 and that there is no justification, whatsoever, for the plaintiff moving the Court seeking to stall the release of the film in less than 24 hours before its scheduled release. The Defendant further submits that on receipt of the legal notice dt. 4th October 2019, the defendant had sent his reply on 11th October 2019 denying the assertions that the Plaintiff was the sole and exclusive copyright holder, entitled to film ‘The White Tiger’. There was a subsequent assignment of the right to film the novel by way of an agreement dt. 30th August 2013, between certain companies of Mr. John Hart Jr and M/s Particle Media Pvt. Ltd, which is the company of the Defendant. Hence, no injunction can be granted in the plaintiffs’ favor as the documents have been concealed by the plaintiff.

The verdict of the High Court of Delhi

Upon considering the submissions made by the parties, the Delhi High Court rejected to grant any interim injunction to the Plaintiff on the ground that there is no material on record to justify the plaintiffs approaching this court less than 24 hours before release seeking stay. Justice C Hari Shankar held that substantial financial interests of various stakeholders were at stake, and that prima facie, the Plaintiff had failed to make out a case fit for the grant of 'Last-minute Injunction' as despite admitting that the cause of action had arisen as far back as 1.5 years ago and it is not possible for this court to come to the finding, based on the material on record, that by making and releasing the film, the defendants have indulged in copyright infringement. It was further observed that the defendant, even while they are permitted to release the film, are directed to keep detailed accounts of the earnings made from the film so that, at any later stage, where the Plaintiff to succeed, an award of damages or monetary compensation, should the Court so deem, is facilitated.

The matter is now List before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) for admission/denial of documents and marking of exhibits on 23rd March 2021.

Nevertheless, to all the movie junks out there, Adarsh Gourav serving up an immensely watchable leading performance and my all-time favorite Priyanka Chopra Jonas once again proved what an excellent actor she is with her limited but extremely bold screen presence. Rajkumar Rao was pretty good too. This film remains quite faithful to the Booker Prize-winning novel ‘The White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga and is not a typical Bollywood flick so if haven’t watched it yet go binge-watch this weekend.