Court affirms copyright assignment to M/s. Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. for "Karathey Babu" film’s non-theatrical rights, restricting injunction to exclude theatrical rights
In a significant ruling on September 1, 2026, the Madras High Court adjudicated a dispute concerning the assignment of copyright and related rights of the Tamil cinematograph film "Karathey Babu," starring Jayam Ravi and directed by Ganesh Babu. The suit involved M/s. Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (plaintiff/applicant) and Dr. S. Venkatesh (defendant/respondent), centering on the scope of rights assigned under a commercial agreement and whether an interim injunction restraining the defendant from exploiting the film’s rights was justified.
M/s. Screen Scene Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. filed Original Applications seeking an interim injunction to restrain Dr. S. Venkatesh and his affiliates from releasing, distributing, exhibiting, broadcasting, streaming, licensing, or otherwise dealing with the film "Karathey Babu" without prior written consent, pending disposal of the suit. The injunction also sought to cover all intellectual property rights including theatrical rights, satellite rights, OTT rights, audio rights, remake rights, and others.
The defendant challenged the injunction, arguing that the plaintiff was not entitled to the theatrical rights of the film and that the assignment agreements presented by the plaintiff were a product of misrepresentation and misuse of blank signed documents given as collateral security in a commercial overdraft arrangement. He contended that no assignment of theatrical rights had been made, and the injunction unfairly delayed the film’s theatrical release, causing commercial prejudice.
After hearing detailed submissions from both sides and reviewing the sale agreements, amendment agreements, and related documents, the Court found that the plaintiff had produced two sale agreements from 2022 and subsequent amendments clearly assigning the copyright and various other rights related to the film "Karathey Babu" (initially titled Production No.9) to the plaintiff. The Court noted that the defendant had not disputed the authenticity of the signatures on these agreements and had acknowledged the assignment in a letter to the film laboratory and in meeting minutes dated November 25, 2024.
The Court carefully analyzed Schedule B of the sale agreement, which explicitly listed the rights assigned to the plaintiff. These included all present and future copyrights, commercial and non-commercial rights, television and radio broadcasting rights, video and home-use rights, advertisement package rights, publishing rights, recording rights, editing rights, and even rights to create and sell digital collectibles or NFTs related to the film. However, the theatrical rights were expressly excluded from this assignment.
Accordingly, the Court ruled that while the plaintiff was entitled to an injunction preventing the defendant from dealing with the assigned rights, the injunction must be limited to the non-theatrical rights enumerated in Schedule B. The Court held that the defendant retained the right to the film’s theatrical release and the injunction could not impede that.
This decision underscores the importance of precise contractual language in intellectual property rights assignments and recognizes the plaintiff’s entitlement to protect assigned rights while safeguarding the defendant’s legitimate theatrical rights. The Court disposed of all applications with no order as to costs.
Bottom Line:
Intellectual Property Rights - Dispute over assignment of copyrights and other rights related to a Tamil film - Injunction granted but restricted to non-theatrical rights as per the assignment agreement.
Statutory provision(s):
Copyright Act, 1957, Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
This report highlights the Madras High Court’s balanced approach in intellectual property disputes, ensuring enforcement of contractual assignments while preventing overreach that might stall theatrical releases critical for film producers’ commercial interests.
