Bombay High Court allows re-release of movie 'V' after deletion of objectionable scene

Bombay High Court allows re-release of movie 'V' after deletion of objectionable scene

The decision is significant in acknowledging the privacy right of an individual Bombay High Court has allowed the re-release of the Telugu film 'V', after passing an interim order to take down the movie from Amazon Prime. The defamation suit was filed by Sakshi Malik, an actress, and model.

In the defamation suit, the actress found her photo being used in the motion picture as an escort or commercial sex worker. The photo was taken from her Instagram account following which she filed the defamation suit in the Bombay High Court.

The Court while observing the case held that, "It is not possible to use the image of any person for a commercial purpose without express written consent and if at all any images are to be used without such express consent, they must be covered by some sort of legally enforceable and tenable licensing regime, whether with or without royalty". Furthermore, it observed, "…using another's image, and most especially a private image, without consent is prima facie impermissible, unlawful and entirely illegal."

Relying on the same, the Court ordered to remove the movie from Amazon Prime till the time the disputed image in question has been deleted, where the Court ordered to remove the entire scene of the image. Moreover, the Court ordered that any such re-release of the movie will only be done after the plaintiff is satisfied that the scene has been removed.

The advocate from Malik's side said that the producers were approached to delete the scene but they only deleted it after the Court's intervention. The advocate also added for the interim cost to be imposed to give a strong message that the women should not be used as an object.

The Court accepted the producer undertaking that they will not release the film with Malik's photo without her express consent. Malik confirmed the deletion of the scene and agreed for the film to be released again. Being a well-settled position of law, the unauthorized usage of images would constitute copyright infringement save and except if the usage is such that it qualifies under the fair dealing/use provisions under Section 52 of the Copyright Act.

The decision is significant in acknowledging the privacy right of an individual. The parties were unable to reach a conclusion on the cost that the defendant has to provide to Malik. While Malik leaving it to the Court's discretion, the Court has asked the 'V' team to inform the Court regarding the amount by 1 April 2021.