S.Kabilan v. Pradeep Raj
Case brief
What is this about?
This Original Application sought an injunction against respondents who reproduced the applicant's Tamil book 'The Great Debate' without consent. The court held that while the underlying content was public domain, the applicant's specific translation constituted an original work protected under the Copyright Act. Consequently, the verbatim copying by respondents was an infringement.
What did the court decide?
Absolute interim injunction restraining respondents from further exploiting and selling the book 'The Great Debate'; matter remitted to trial.
What the court decided
A compact analysis
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
(ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION) FRIDAY, THE 15th DAY OF DECEMBER 2017
THE HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE ANITA SUMANTH
O.A. No.603 of 2017 in C.S. No.450 of 2017
S.Kabilan, Proprietor Kedayam, No.59, Vinayakapuram 1st Street, Arumbakkam, Chennai-600 106. ... Applicant/Plaintiff
-Versus-
- Pradeep Raj, S/o.Thangaraj,
- The Publisher, Pudumai Pathipagam, 1 & 2 are at No.61/2, Bharathi Salai, Jam Bazar, Triplicane, Chennai-600 005. ... Respondents/Defendants
Original Application praying that this Hon'ble Court be pleased to pass an order granting interim injunction restraining the respondents/defendants 1 & 2, their men, agents, servants, subordinates or any other persons claiming under them from any manner exploiting further and
selling the book titled ' khbgUk; tpthjk; (rh;tnjr fk;a{dpr ,af;fj;jpd;
Mtz';fs;. 1957?1970) ' The Great Debate - Documents of International Communist Movement, 1957 to 1970)' pending disposal of the above suit.
Issues for consideration
3 issues framed by the court
Whether the applicant has locus standi to claim copyright in the publication.
Whether the respondents' use of the title and content under Section 52(1)(m) of the Act amounts to fair dealing or infringement.
Whether a translation of a public domain work attracts original copyright protection independent of the underlying text.
Parties & counsel
- applicant
S.Kabilan
- respondent
Pradeep Raj
- respondent
The Publisher, Pudumai Pathipagam
Coram
Case details
As recorded by the court registry
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