High Court refuses to stay release of ‘The White Tiger’ on Netflix

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New Delhi, January 22: The Delhi High Court Thursday refused to stay the release of the film ”The White Tiger” on OTT platform Netflix on a plea by Hollywood producer John Hart Jr alleging copyright violation.

In an urgent hearing conducted late evening, Justice C Hari Shankar dismissed the stay application by the producer saying not a single reason was shown to approach the court less than 24 hours before release of the film, NDTV reported.

The court, which heard the matter for over two hours, issued summons to the producer of the film Mukul Deora and Netflix.

It listed the matter for completion of pleadings before the joint registrar on March 22.

The film “The White Tiger” is based on the book “The White Tiger” which was released in March 2008.

The film features Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Rajkummar Rao and Adarsh Gourav in the lead role.

The court said, “It is not possible for this court to come to the finding, based on the material on record, that by making and releasing the film, the defendants have indulged in copyright infringement.”

The court said Mukul Deora and Netflix are allowed to release the film and are directed to keep detailed accounts of the film so that if at a later stage, Hart Jr succeeds, the court can determine the monetary compensation.

It also said that on a holistic consideration of facts, especially as the plaintiffs have chosen to approach the court less than 24 hours before the release of the film, they have not been able to make out a case for an ad-interim injunction on release of the movie.

Advocate Kapil Sankhla, representing Hart Jr, said that a literary auction agreement was executed between him and the author of the book Aravinda Adiga in March 2009 and he had to make it an Oscar-worthy film to be released in Hollywood.

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/high-court-refuses-to-stay-release-of-the-white-tiger-on-netflix-2356271

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