The Delhi High Court has upheld a previous single judge order that confirms legendary director Satyajit Ray as the first owner of copyright in his 1966 Bengali film 'Nayak'. The court also ruled that the right to novelize the screenplay of the film is vested in Ray. A division bench consisting of Justice Yashwant Varma and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed an appeal challenging the earlier decision, brought forward by RDB and Co. HUF, representing R.D. Bansal who commissioned Ray to create and direct the film.
The plaintiff, RDB and Co. HUF, had sought to prevent publishing house HarperCollins from novelizing the screenplay written by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay, with the book being published in May 2018. The single judge order had allowed HarperCollins' application to dismiss the suit, stating it lacked a cause of action, and subsequently rejected HUF's plea for a permanent injunction against the publication.
The division bench upheld the single judge's decision by recognizing that copyright in the screenplay must belong to the author, Satyajit Ray. The court stated, "While the plaintiff/appellant may have been the producer of the film 'Nayak', it could not have possibly claimed a supervening right in the screenplay in light of the clear language and intent of Section 13(4) of the Copyright Act."
The court's decision affirms the principle that the copyright in a film's screenplay belongs to its author, even if the producer of the film seeks ownership. The division bench emphasized that the recognition of copyright in the screenplay does not affect any rights claimed by the producer in the cinematographic work.
The dispute emerged when the plaintiff HUF alleged that the novelization of the screenplay by Bhaskar Chattopadhyay and its publication by HarperCollins infringed on their copyright. HarperCollins argued that the copyright in the screenplay belonged to Satyajit Ray and, after his passing in 1992, passed to his son Sandip Ray and the Society for Preservation of Satyajit Ray Archives (SPSRA). HarperCollins also asserted that it had obtained a license from Sandip Ray and SPSRA to novelize the screenplay.
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