No Relief for Film Director Koratala for Violation of the Copyrights Act

The Telangana High Court upheld the trial court's order to continue trial proceedings under the Copyrights Act against acclaimed film director and screenwriter Koratala Siva. This is about copyright infringement about the story and screenplay of the Mahesh Babu-starrer 'Srimanthudu,' released in 2015. However, the criminal conspiracy accusations against Siva were dismissed by the court.

The novelist R.D. Wilison alias Sarath Chandra filed a complaint, claiming that the film was based on his award-winning novel 'Chachentha Prema,' published in a Telugu magazine in February 2012. He filed a lawsuit against Siva, Yerineni Naveen, and G. Maheshbabu Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

The trial judge recorded the complainant's testimonies, took cognizance under Section 63 of the Copyright Act and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code against the accused, and ordered a summons. Siva, Naveen, and Maheshbabu Entertainment petitioned the High Court in 2017 to overturn the civil court's ruling for a criminal trial.

Meanwhile, the complainant asked the High Court to file criminal charges against them under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery), and 471.

After reviewing the evidence, Justice K. Surender denied registering criminal complaints of cheating and forgery against Siva and others. Furthermore, the trial court proceedings against them were quashed by the court. Despite copyright infringement charges, the court was unwilling to dismiss the proceedings against Siva. However, he was excused from the criminal conspiracy procedures.