Delhi High Court Decides Copyright Ownership: Satyajit Ray Recognized as First Owner for Film 'Nayak'

On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court delivered a judgment on the ownership of copyright in the 1966 Bengali film ‘Nayak’. 

Justice C Hari Shankar ruled that the first owner of copyright in the movie is the legendary filmmaker late Satyajit Ray, who wrote the screenplay for the movie. 

This judgement was made in response to a plea by the producers of the film, RDB and Co. (plaintiff), who sought an injunction against publishing house HarperCollins (defendant) from publishing the novelization of the film’s screenplay.

The plaintiff argued that Ray was commissioned by RD Bansal (Karta of RDB & Co) to write the screenplay of the film Nayak and direct the same. Sometime around 2018, Bhaskar Chattopadhyay novelized the screenplay of the movie and the novel was published by HarperCollins on May 5, 2018. They claimed that the novelization of the screenplay by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay and the publication of the novel by the defendant, constituted infringement of their copyright within the meaning of Section 51 of the Copyright Act.

Justice Hari Shankar held that the conclusion of Section 17 of the Copyright Act is that Ray, as the author of the screenplay of Nayak, was the first owner of the copyright in the said film. He further added that Ray had the right to novelise the screenplay and that right could be assigned him, and consequent on his demise, by his son and others on whom the right devolved. Therefore, the contention that the producer is the owner of the copyright in the screenplay in the film Nayak cannot be accepted.

The Court, therefore, rejected the plea by the producers of the film and ruled that the assignment of the right to novelize the screenplay of the film ‘Nayak’ by Sandip Ray and the SPSRA in favour of the defendant is wholly in order and in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act.

In conclusion, Justice Hari Shankar stated that the plaintiff has no right whatsoever, in law, to injunct the defendant from novelizing the screenplay of the film ‘Nayak’. This judgment was delivered with the understanding that the defendant’s actions do not constitute infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright.

📢 Delhi HC declares Satyajit Ray as original copyright owner of 'Nayak' film. Read the judgment: https://t.co/m0UZERccna #intellectualproperty #SatyajitRay #NayakFilm #Bollywood #CreativeWorks pic.twitter.com/EO6dJ765Hl

— Law Bol (@law_bol) May 23, 2023