Mimtaz
Desi girl Priyanka Chopra Jonas & Rajkumar Rao starrer ‘The White Tiger’ released globally today on Netflix.
However, hours before its release this Netflix movie got into trouble.
Yesterday, a Hollywood producer John Hart Jr filed an urgent petition in Delhi High Court seeking a stay on the release of the Netflix movie ‘The White Tiger’ on the grounds of alleged copyright violation.
Hart claimed that he already had bought the copyright of this prize-winning novel from the author.
Now, according to Live Law, the Delhi HC refused to grant any interim relief to Hart, which means that the court refused to stay the release of the film.
In an urgent hearing conducted late evening, Justice C. Hari Shankar dismissed the stay application by the producer, saying not a single reason was shown to approach the court less than 24 hours before the film’s release.
“There is no material on record to justify the plaintiffs approaching this court less than 24 hours prior to release seeking stay. It is settled … that any party approaching court at the end hour, seeking interlocutory indirection against the release of cinematographic film, is disentitled to any such relief,“ the order stated.
As per the ET report, the court said, “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.”
The court, which heard the matter for over two hours, issued summons to the producer of the film, Mukul Deora, and Netflix, where it will be released on Friday.
Advocate Kapil Sankhla, representing Hart Jr and his associate Sonia Mudbhatkal, said that a literary auction agreement was executed between him and the author of the book Aravinda Adiga in March 2009 and he had to make it an Oscar-worthy film to be released in Hollywood.
Senior advocate Sandeep Sethi, representing ‘The White Tiger’ producer Mukul Deora, opposed the suit saying the cause of action arose in October 2019 itself and the plaintiffs have approached the court at the 11th hour which is not permissible. He also claimed that e reply was given within a few days.
Advocate Saikrishna Rajagopal, representing Netflix, adopted the arguments advanced by Sethi and added that the OTT film release involves huge finances and goodwill and no stay should be granted.
Keeping the suit pending, the court asked ‘The White Tiger’ makers to keep detailed accounts of earnings from the film. The case will be brought up before the registrar on March 22 to complete pleadings and paperwork.
