In a unique judgment, a Vadodara court on Friday ordered a film company not to publish, broadcast or release its movie Return of Hanuman with the caricature of Hanuman, which was previously used in the movie Bal Hanuman, as it would mean the violation of the copyright law. According to senior counsel, Rohit Majmudar, who argued in favour of Shree Karma Productions, the makers of Bal Hanuman, Mumbai-based Percept Film Company infringed the intellectual property rights of the makers of Bal Hanuman by using the same caricature of Lord Hanuman in their movie Return of Hanuman. “Acting on the prima facie evidence, after the movies were shown to the honourable court, it was ruled that Percept Film Company had violated the intellectual property rights, as the caricature of Lord Hanuman was already copyrighted by the makers of Bal Hanuman,” said Majmudar. The senior counsel also added that Percept Film Company was also using Return of Hanuman to manufacture merchandise including pencil boxes. The court has ruled that till November 3, the film company will not be allowed to use the film in any way. Majmudar said that the Telegu version of Bal Hanuman had run into trouble as well. However, permission was later granted by the filmmakers, as the Telegu film was just a dubbed version of the original movie.
