Case: R.G Anand Vs. M/S. Delux Films &amp; Ors

The facts have been succinctly stated by the District Judge in his judgment and summarised by the High Court, and, therefore, it is not necessary for us to repeat the same all over again. We would, however, like to give a brief resume of some of the striking facts in the case which may be germane for the purpose of deciding the important issues involved in this appeal. We might mention here that the High Court as also the District Judge negatived the plaintiffs claim and prima facie the appeal appears to be concluded by finding of fact, but it was rightly argued by Mr. Andley appealing for the appellant that the principles of violation of copy-right in the instant appeal have to be applied on the facts found and the inferences from proved facts drawn by the High Court which is doubtless a question of law and more particularly as there is no clear authority of this Court on the subject, we should be persuaded to go into this question without entering into findings of facts. Having heard counsel for the parties, we felt that as the case is one of first impression and needs to be decided by this Court, we should enter into the merits on the basis of the facts found and inferences drawn by the High Court and the District Judge. It is true that both the District Judge and the High Court have relied upon some well established principles to determine whether or not in a particular case a violation of copy right has taken place, but learned counsel for the appellant has challenged the validity of the principles enunciated by the High Court.The plaintiff is an architect by profession and is also a playwright, dramatist and producer of stage plays. Even before Hum Hindustani the plaintiff had written and produced a number of other plays like Des Hamara, Azadi and Election which were staged in Delhi. The subject matter of the appeal, however, is the play entitled Hum Hindustani. According to the plaintiff, this play was written by him in Hindi in the year 1953 and was enacted by him for the first time on 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th February, 1954 at Wavell Theatre, New Delhi under the auspices of the Indian National Theatre. The play proved to he very popular and received great approbation from the Press and the public as a result of which the play was re-staged in February and September, 1954 and also in 1955 and 1956 at Calcutta. In support of his case the plaintiff has referred to a number of comments appearing in the Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Times of India and other papersEncouraged by the success and popularity of the aforesaid play the plaintiff tried to consider the possibility of filming it. In November, 1954 the plaintiff received a letter dated 19th November, 1954 from the second defendant Mr. Mohan Sehgal wherein the defendant informed the plaintiff that he was supplied with a synopsis of the play by one Mr. Balwant Gargi a common friend of the plaintiff and the defendant The defendant had requested the plain tiff to supply a copy of the play so that the defendant may consider the desirability of making a film on it. The plaintiff, however, by his letter dated 30th November? 1954 informed the defendant that as the play had been selected out of 17 Hindi plays for National Drama Festival and would be staged on 11th December, 1954, the defendant should take the trouble of visiting Delhi and seeing the play himself in order to examine the potentialities of making a film, and at that time the matter could be discussed by the defendant with the plaintiff.The plaintiffs case, however, is that some time about January, 1955 the second and the third defendants came to Delhi, met the plain tiff in his office where the plaintiff read out and explained the entire play to the defendants and also discussed the possibility of filming it. The second defendant did not make any clear commitment but promised the plaintiff that he would inform him about his re-action after reaching Bombay. Thereafter the plaintiff heard nothing from the defendant. Sometime in May, 1955 the second defendant announced the production of a motion picture entitled "New Delhi". One Mr. Thapa who was one of the artists in the play produced by the plaintiff happened to be in Bombay at the time when the picture New Delhi was being produced by the defendant and informed the plaintiff that the picture being produced by the defendant was really based on the plaintiffs play Hum Hindustani. The plaintiff thereupon by his letter dated 30th May, 1955 wrote to the second defendant expressing serious concern over the adaptation of his play into a motion picture called New Delhi. The defendant, however, by his letter dated 9th June, 1955 informed the plaintiff that his doubts were without any foundation and assured the plaintiff that the story treatment, dramatic construction, characters etc. were quite different and bore not the remotest connection or resemblance with the play written by the plaintiffThe picture was released in Delhi in September, 1956 and the plaintiff read some comments in the papers which gave the impression that the picture was very much like the play Hum Hindustani written by the plaintiff. The plaintiff himself saw the picture on the 9th September, 1956 and he found that the film was entirely based upon the said play and was, therefore, convinced that the defendant after having heard the play narrated to him by the plaintiff dishonestly imitated the same in his film and thus committed an act of piracy so as to result in violation of the copy- right of the plaintiff. The plaintiff accordingly filed the suit for damages, for decree for accounts of the profits made by the defendants and a decree for permanent injunction against the defendants restraining them from exhibiting the film New Delhi.The suit was contested by defendants No. 1 and 2 as also by other defendants who adopted the pleas raised by defendants No. 1 and 2The defendants, inter alia, pleaded that they were not aware that the plaintiff was the author of the play Hum Hindustani nor were they aware that the play was very well received at Delhi. Defendant No. 2 is a film Director and is also the proprietor of defendant No. 1 Delux Films. The defendants averred that in November, 1954 the second defendant was discussing some ideas for his new picture with Mr. Balwant Gargi who is a play wright of some repute. In the course of the discussion, the second defendant informed Mr. Gargi that the second defendant was interested in producing a motion film based on provincialism as its central theme. In the context of these discussions Mr. Gargi enquired of defendant No. 2 if the latter was interested in hearing the play called Hum Hindustani produced by the plaintiff which also had the same theme of provincialism in which the second defendant was interested. It was, therefore, at the instance of Mr. Gargi that the second defendant wrote to the plaintiff and requested him to send a copy of the script of the play. The defendant goes on to state that the plaintiff read out the play to the second defendant in the presence of Rajinder Bhatia and Mohan Kumar, Assistant Directors of the second defendant when they had come to Delhi in connection with the release of their film "Adhikar". The second defendant has taken a clear stand that after having heard the play he informed the plaintiff that though the play might have been all right for the amateur stage, it was too inadequate for the purpose of making a full length commercial motion picture. The defendants denied the allegation of the plaintiff that it was after hearing the play written by the plaintiff that the defendants decided to make a film - based on the play and entitled it as New Delhi.The defendant thus submitted that there could be no copy-right so far as the subject of provincial ism is concerned which can be used or adopted by any body in his own way. He further averred that the S motion picture was quite different from the play Hum Hindustani both in contents, spirit and climax. The mere fact that there were some similarities between the film and the play could be explained by the fact that the idea, viz., provincialism was the common source of the play as also of the film. The defendant thus denied that there was any violation of the copy rightOn the basis of the pleadings of the parties, the learned trial Judge framed the following issues:1. Is the plaintiff owner of the copyright in the play Hum Hindustani ?2. Is the film New Delhi an infringement of the plaintiffs copyright in the play Hum Hindustani?3. Have defendants or any of them infringed the plaintiffs copyright by producing, or distributing or exhibiting the film New Delhi ?4. Is the suit bad for misjoinder of defendants and cause of action ?5. To what relief is the plaintiff entitled and against whom ?Issue No. 1 was decided against the defendants and it was held by the trial Judge that the plaintiff w as the owner of the copy-right in the play Hum Hindustani. Issue No. 4 was not pressed by the defendants and was accordingly decided against them. The main case however turned upon the decision on issues No. 2 and 3 which were however decided against the plaintiff as the learned Judge held that there was no violation of the copyright of the plaintiff. The plaintiff then went up in appeal to the Delhi High Court where a Division Bench of that Court affirmed the decision of the District Judge and upheld the decree dismissing the plaintiffs suit.

Reasoning:
To begin with there is no decided case of this Court on this point. Secondly, at the time when the cause of action arose Parliament had not made any law governing copy-right violations and the courts in the absence of any law by our Parliament relied on the old law passed by the British Parliament, namely, the Copy Right Act of 1911. Section 1 sub- section (2) (d) defines copy-right thus:"(2) For the purposes of this Act, copy-right means the sole right to produce or reproduce the work or any substantial Part thereof in any material form whatsoever to perform, or in the case of a lecture to deliver, the work or any substantial part thereof in public. If the work is unpublished, to publish the work or any substantial part thereof; and shall include the sole right,(d) in the case of a literary, dramatic, or musical work, to make any record, perforated roll, cinematograph film, or other contrivance by means or which the work may be mechanically performed or delivered"Section 2 provides the contingencies where a copy-right could be infringed and runs thus:-"2(1) Copyright in a work shall be deemed to be in fringed by any person who, without the consent of the owner or the copyright , does anything the sole right to do which is by this Act conferred on the owner of the copy right"It is, therefore, clear that the Act of 1911 defines copyright and also indicates the various contingencies where copy-right can not be in fringed. The statute also provides exceptions which would not amount to violation of copyrightThus, the position appears to be that an idea, principle, them e, or subject matter or historical or legendary facts being common property cannot be the subject matter of copyright of a particular person. It is always open to any person to choose an idea as a subject matter and develop it in his own manner and give expression to the idea by treating it differently from others. Where two writers write on the same subject similarities are bound to occur because the central idea of both are the single but the similarities or coincidences by themselves cannot lead to an irresistible inference of plagiarism or piracy. Take for instance the great poet and dramatist Shakespeare most of whose plays are based on Greek-Roman and British mythology or legendary stories like Mer chant of Venice, Hamlet, Romeo Juliet, Jullius Caesar etc. But the treatment of the subject by Shakespeare in each of his dramas is so fresh, so different, so full of poetic exuberance. elegance and erudition and so novel in character as a result of which the end product be comes an original in itself. In fact, the power and passion of his expression, the uniqueness, eloquence and excellence of his style and pathos and bathos of the dramas become peculiar to Shakespeare and leaves precious little of the original theme adopted by him. It will thus be preposterous to level a charge of plagiarism against the great play-wright. In fact, thoughout his original thinking, ability and incessant labour Shakespeare has converted an old idea into a new one, so that each of the dramas constitutes a master-piece of English literature. It has been rightly said that "every drama of Shakespeare is an extended metaphor". Thus, the fundamental fact which has to be determined where a charge o f violation of the copyright is made by the. plaintiff against the defendant is to determine whether or not the defendant not only adopted the idea of the copyrighted work but has also adopted the manner, arrangement, situation to situation, scene to scene with minor changes or super additions or embellishment here and y there. Indeed, if on a perusal of the copyrighted work the defendants work appears to be a transparent rephrasing; or a copy of a substantial and material part of the original, the charge of plagiarism must stand proved. Care however must be taken to see whether the defendant has merely disguised piracy or has actually reproduced the original in a different form, different tone, different tenor so as t o infuse a new life into the idea of the copyrighted work adapted by him. In the latter case there is no violation of the copyright.Thus, on a careful consideration and elucidation of the various authorities and the case law on the subject discussed above, the following propositions emerge:1. There can be no copyright in an idea, subject matter, themes, plots or historical or legendary facts and violation of the copyright in such cases is confined to the form, manner and arrangement and expression of the idea by the author of the copyright work2. Where the same idea is being developed in a different manner, it is manifest that the source being common, similarities are bound to occur. In such a case the courts should determine whether or not the similarities are on fundamental or substantial aspects of the mode of expression adopted in the copyrighted work. If the defendants work is nothing but a literal imitation of the copyrighted work with some variations here and there it would amount to violation of the copyright. In other words, in order to be actionable the copy must be a substantial and material one which at once leads to the conclusion that the defendant is guilty of an act of piracy3. One of the surest and the safest test to determine whether or not there has been a violation of copyright is to seeing the reader, spectator or the viewer after having read or seen both the works is clearly of the opinion and gets an unmistakable impression that the subsequent work appears to be a copy of the original4. Where the theme is the same but is presented and treated differently so that the subsequent work becomes a completely new work, no question of violation of copyright arises5. Where however apart from the similarities appearing in the two works there are also material and broad dissimilarities which negative the intention to copy the original and the coincidences appearing in the two works are clearly incidental no infringement of the copyright comes into existence6. As a violation of copyright amounts to an act of piracy it must be proved by clear and cogent evidence after applying the various tests laid down by the case law discussed above7. Where however the question is of the violation of the copyright of stage play by a film producer or a Director the task of the plaintiff becomes more difficult to prove piracy. It is manifest that unlike a stage play a film has a much broader prospective, a wider field and a bigger background where the defendants can by introducing a variety of incidents give a colour and complexion different from the manner in which the copyrighted work has expressed the idea. Even so, if the viewer after seeing the film gets a totality of impression that the film is by and large a copy of the original play, violation of the copyright may be said to be provedWe would now endeavour to apply the principles enunciated above and the tests laid down by us to the facts of the present case in order to determine whether or not the plaintiff has been able to prove the charge of plagiarism and violation of copyright levelled against the dependant by the plaintiff. The learned trial Judge who had also had the advantage of seeing the picture was of the opinion that the film taken as a whole is quite different from the play written by the plaintiff. In order to test t he correctness of the finding of the trial Court we also got the play read to us by the plaintiff in the presence of counsel for the parties and have also seen the film which was screened at C.P.W.D. Auditorium, Mahadev Road, New Delhi. This was done merely to appreciate the judgment of the trial Court and the evidence led by the parties and was not at all meant to be just a substitute for the evidence led by the partiesTo begin with, we would like to give a summary of the play Hum Hindustani which is supposed to have been plagiarized by the defendants. The script of the play Ex. P.1 has been placed before us and we have gone through the same.The main theme of the play is provincialism and the prejudice of persons belonging to one State against persons belonging to other States. In the play however the author chooses two families, viz., a Punjabi family and a Madrasi family to show what havoc can be caused by provincial parochialism possessed by the two families. The Punjabi family and the Madrasi family were living as close neighbours having good and cordial relations and are on visiting terms with each other. The Punjabi consists of Dewan Chand, contractor, his wife Krishna, their grown up daughter Chander and son Tinnu aged about 8 or 10 years. The Madrasi family however consists of Subramaniam, Government officials, his wife Minakshi and grown up son Amni and daughter Pitto who is aged about 8 or 10 years. As a result or the close association between the two families it appears that Amni the son of Subramaniam falls in love with Chander the daughter of Dewan Chand of the Punjabi family. When the parents are out Amni and Chander meet and talk. Unfortunately, however, the parents of both Amni and Chander arc extremely adverse to the matrimonial union of Amni and Chander because the two families belong to two different provinces. When they get some scent of the love affair between Amni and Chander the parents of Chander make a serious attempt to find a suitable match for her amongst their own caste namely Punjabis. Similarly, the parents of Amni also try to arrange a match for him amongst Madrasis. For this purpose, the services of a marriage broker named Dhanwantri are enlisted by both the parties without knowing that Dhanwantri was trying to negotiate marriages for both the couples. Later on, when this fact is discovered the relations of the two families become s trained. Amni and Chander also persuade Dhanwantri to assist there in bringing about their marriage by persuading their parents to agree. This gives a chance to Dhanwantri to make a lot of money out of the two couples. Dewan Chand and his wife Krishna in sheer desperation hurriedly arranged the marriage of their daughter Chander to Bansi, a simpleton, son of Murari Lal who is a friend of Dewan Chand. In fact, Dewan Chand is not very impressed with Bansi but in view of the critical situation arising out of the love affair between his daughter and Amni he prefers Bansi to the Madrasi boy. When Chander and Amni come to know of this Chander asked Amni to speak to his parents in a free and frank manner and express his strong desire to marry Chander. Amni who appears to be a cowardly fellow prefers to commit suicide rather than dare to talk out this matter with his parents. Realising that no hope is left for Chander and Amni to go through the marriage ceremony both of them entered into a suicidal pact and wrote letters to their parents indicating their intention to commit suicide because they were not prepared to marry anybody else. Dhanwantri, however, intervenes and persuades Chander and Amni not to commit suicide as according to him they were not destined to die unless they had been actually married. Meanwhile, the parents of Amni and Chander on getting the suicide note mourn the loss of their children and it now dawns upon them that they had committed the saddest mistake of their life in refusing to marry the couple and repent for their act. Just at that time Amni and Chander appear on the scene after having been married to each other. The marriage was performed by Dhanwantri him self. Thus ends the story with the realisation by both the families that provincialism helps nobody. This in short is the story of the play written by the appellant.We might mention that before the play starts the author show some voices reciting various persons proclaiming that they come from different States like the slogan that they belong to a particular state rather than that they belong to IndiaAnalysing therefore the essential features of the play the position is as follows:-1. That the central idea of the play is based on provincialism and parochialism2. The evils of provincialism are illustrated by the cordial relations of the two families being married because of an apprehended marriage tie which according to both the families was not possible where they belonged to different States3. That the Madrasi boy Amni is a coward and in spite of his profound love for Chander he doe s not muster sufficient courage to talk the matter out with his parents4. That in sheer desperation while the parents of the families are trying to arrange a match for the couple belonging to the same State Amni and Chander enter into a suicidal pact and write letters to their parents intimating their intention5. It was only after the letters are perused by the parents that they realise the horror of parochialism and arc repentant for having acted so foolishly6. That after this realisation comes the married couple Amni and Chander appear before the parents and thus all is well that ends wellAs the play was read to us by the appellant we find that it was very exquisitely presented and the plot was developed with great skill. It must be noted however that the author in writing out the play has concentration only on one aspect of provincialism namely whether the re can be a marriage between the persons belonging to one State with those belonging to other States. This is the only aspect of provincialism which has been stressed in the play. The play does not touch any other aspect nor does it contain anything to throw light on the evils of society or that of dowry etc. We have mentioned these acts particularly because the film revolves around not only the aspect of marriage but other aspects also which are given the same importance as the problem of marriage.We shall now give the summary of the film. The script of which is Ex. D-2. The film starts showing Anand a young graduate from Punjab who comes to New Delhi for a course in Radio Engineering. At the Railway Station Anand meets a Madrasi girl Janaki and due to some misunderstanding an altercation between the two takes place, as a result of which Janaki feels that Anand was trying to tease her. Thereafter Anand comes and stays in a Sarai opposite the Railway Station , but he is allowed to stay there only for three days after which he was expected to find accommodation elsewhere. Thereafter Anand runs from house to house trying to get some accommodation but is sadly disappointed because wherever he goes he finds t hat in every case the landlord is not prepared to give the house to any person who does not belong to his province. We might mention here that this is one of the very important aspect of provincialism which pervades through the entire film, vi z., that so parochial are the landlords that they were not even prepared to let out their houses or rooms to any person coming from outside their State. This particular aspect is completely absent from the story revealed in the play written by the appellant. One Kumaraswamya South Indian attendant at the Sarai comes to the rescue of Anand and suggests to him that he should attire as a South Indian and then go to any South Indian landlord to get the house. Thereafter Anand disguised as a South Indian approaches one Iyer for giving him accommodation and Iyer is only too glad to accommodate Anand on the ground that Anand is also a South Indian. Anand then meets Subramaniam father of Janaki the girl with whom he had all altercation at the station. The film then proceeds involving several sequences of the meeting between Anand and Janaki, Murli Dhar the Principal of a Dancing School takes Anand is his student and there he is introduced to Janaki who is a Professor of Dance and Music in that Institute. Janaki then discovers that Anand is a good singer and is slowly and gradually attracted towards him. Janaki invited him to her house for the celebration of Pongal festival and Anand goes there as usual attired as South Indian to witness the dance performance of Janaki. He also comes to know that Janakis father Subramaniam does not hold any good opinion about the Punjabis. Thereafter Anand leaves the place after making an appointment with Janaki to meet near Rashtrapati Bhawan the following day. When Anand returns to his house he comes to know that his father Daulat Ram had been transferred to New Delhi and was expected at any moment. Daulat Ram was posted as Manager in the same commercial company in which Subramaniam was employed ill a subordinate position. Anand receives his parents and his grown up sister Nikki at the railway station and takes them to his house. He also brings Kumaraswamy, the attendant, at the Sarai to his own house as a cook. Thereafter Anand goes out on the pretext of taking his sister Nikki around the city. When they reach the Red Fort he meets Ashok Banerjee, a young Bengali painter whom he had met earlier in connection with the search for accommodation of the house but was refused accommodation because Anand did not happen to be a Bengali. Ashok Banerjee is impressed by Nikki and requests her to allow him to make Nikkis portrait. Leaving his sister there Anand meets Janaki and both of t hem come to the Red Fort. When Anand and Janaki meet Nikki and Ashok, Anannd in order to conceal his real identity tells Janaki that Nikki is the daughter of his fathers friend, which naturally angers Nikki hut later Anand apologies to her and explains that he did not want Janaki or her father lo know that he was not a Madrasi and thus upset the love affair between Anand and Janaki. Subramaniam, father of Janaki takes a fancy for Anand and asks Janaki to invite Anands father to the house so that he could negotiate Janakis marriage with Anand. This puts Anand in a most awkward position In order to save the situation Anand hits upon an idea by introducing his cook Kumaraswamy to Subramaniam as his father. Just at that time Daulat Ram happens to pass through Subramaniams house and is called in by Subramaniam, but the situation is saved by Kumaraswamy feigning illness as a result of which he is taken to a room where he hides his face in a blanket. Anand leaves the house and returns with a false beard posing as a doctor. Similarly, Ashok and Nikki get attached to each other and Ashok receives a telegram from his father summoning him to Calcutta. Before he leaves Ashok frankly declares his love to Nikki and gets her consent to marry him. The love affair of Nikki however is not in the knowledge of her parents. Murli Dhar, Principal of the Institution of Dance and Music arranges a performance in which the principal role is played by Anand and Janaki. Up to this time neither Janaki nor her father Subramaniam had ever known the real identity of Anand but both of them had taken him to be a South Indian. We might like to add that here the picture makes a complete departure from the story contained in the play where both the parents of the couple knew the identity of each other. Before the performance starts Anand tries to disclose his identity to Janaki but is unable to do so because Janaki is in a hurry. The performance is applauded by The audience which includes Subramaniam, Daulat Ram and Kumaraswamy. In the theater hall where the performance is staged Kumaraswamy is given a prominent place as he is taken to be the father of Anand. Daulat Ram resents this fact because Kumaraswamy was his servant. After the performance Murli Dhar introduces Subramaniam Janakis father to the audience. Murli Dhar then calls Kumaraswamy and introduces him to the audience as the father of Anand. This infuriates Daulat Ram who comes to the stage and gives a thrashing to Kumarswamy. It is at this stage that the entire truth is revealed and both Subramaniam and Janaki come to know that Anand was not a South Indian hut a Punjabi and his father was Daulat Ram. Daulat Ram also does not like the relations of his son with Janaki because he thinks that if the son marries outside the caste that will create difficulties for the marriage of his daughter Nikki Subramaniam then starts negotiation for Janakis marriage with a South Indian boy. Anand goes to Janaki and asks her to delay the negotiations for about a month or two till Nikkis marriage is over after which he would marry Janaki.Janaki feels completely let down and when she goes home she is given a serious rebuke by her father. In utter frustration Janaki decides to commit suicide and leaves suicide note. She proceeds to Jamuna river. Before she is able to jump into the river she is saved by Sadhu Ram, a Punjabi Ghee Merchant, and a friend of Subramaniam Sadhu Ram scoffs at the peoples preference for provincialism and their lack of appreciation of intrinsic human values. He takes Janaki to his own house and tells Daulat Ram that she is her niece and on that basis negotiates for the marriage of Janaki with Anand. Daulat Ram accepts the proposal because Janaki appears as a Punjabi girl on receiving the suicide note Subramaniam feels extremely sorry and realises his mistake. In the meanwhile when Daulat Ram returns to his house he finds Ashok Banerjee on very intimate terms with Nikki Daulat Ram gets furious and turns out Ashok from his house. Thereafter Daulat Ram arranges the marriage of his daughter Nikki with the son of one Girdhari Lal. After the marriage party comes to the house of Daulat Ram, Girdhari Lal insists upon Rs. 15, 000 as dowry from Daulat Ram. Daulat Ram does not have such a large sum of money and implores Girdhari Lal not to insist and to save his honour but Girdhari Lal is adamant. Daulat Ram tries to enlist the support of his caste men but no one is prepared to oblige him. At this juncture Ashok Banerjee appears on the scene and offers his mothers jewellery to Daulat Ram to be given in dowry to Girdhari Lal and thus seeks to save the honour of Daulat Ram. This act of Ashok Banerjee brings about a great mental change in the attitude of Daulat Ram, who stops Nikkis marriage with Girdhari Lals son and turns them out along with the men of his brotherhood. Daulat Ram declares his happiness that he has found a bigger brotherhood, namely, the Indian brotherhood and asks Ashok to marry Nikki at the same marriage Pandal. At that time Sadhu Ram requests Daulat Ram that Mohini who is none other than Janaki should also be married to Anand. Sadhu Ram discloses the true identity of Janaki and then Daulat Ram realises his short- sightendness and welcomes the idea of the marriage of Anand with Janaki. Subramaniam who is present there feels extremely happy and blesses the proposed marriage. Ashok and Nikki as also Anand and Janaki are then married and thus the film ends.Analysing the story of the film it would appear that it protrays three main themes: (1) Two aspects of provincialism viz. the role of provincialism in regard to marriage and in regard to renting out accommodation (2) Evils of a caste ridden society, and (3) the evils of dowry. So far as the last two aspects are concerned they do not figure at all in the play written by the plaintiff/appellant. A close perusal of the script of the film clearly shows that all the three aspects mentioned above are integral parts of the story and it is very difficult to divorce one from the other with out affecting the beauty and the continuity of the script of the film. Further, it would appear that the treatment of the story of the fills in many respects different from the story contained in the playIn the course of the argument also our attention was Drawn to a comparative compilation of the similarities in the film and the play. The learned trial Judge after considering the similarities was of the opinion that the similarities are on trivial points and do not have the effect of making the film a substantial and material imitation of the play. Moreover apart from the fact that the similarities and coincidences mentioned above are rather insignificant as pointed out by the trial Judge and the High Court, in our opinion, they are clearly explainable by and referable to the central idea, namely, evils of provincialism and parochialism which is common to both the play and the film. Nothing therefore turns upon the similarities categorised by the plaintiff (in para 9 of the plaint), in the peculiar Facts and circumstances of this caseAfter having gone through the script of the play and the film we are inclined to agree with the opinion of the Courts below. We have already pointed out that mere similarities by themselves are not sufficient to raise in inference of colourable imitation on the other hand, there are quite a number of dissimilarities also, for(ii) Similarly, in the play the two families are fully aware of the identity of each other whereas in the film they are not and in fact it is only when the dance performance of Janaki and Anand is staged that the identity of the two ( families is disclosed which forms one of the important climaxes of the film. Thus, the idea of provincialism itself is presented in a manner or form quite different from that adopted in the play(iii)In the film there is no suicidal pact between the lovers but only a suicide note is left by Janaki whereas in the play both the lovers decide to end their lives and enter into a suicidal pact and leave suicide note to this effectFurthermore, while in the play Amni and Chander get married and then appear before the parents in the picture the story takes a completely different turn with the intervention of Sadhu Ram who does not allow Janaki to commit suicide but keeps her with him disguised as his niece and the final climax is reached in the last scene when Janakis real identity is disclosed and Subramaniam also finds out that his daughter is alive(iv) The story in the play revolves around only two families, namely, the Punjabi and the Madrasi families, but in the film there are three important families, namely, the Punjabi family, the Madrasi family and the Bengali family and very great stress is laid down in the film on the role played by Ashok Banerjee of the Bengali family who makes a supreme sacrifice at the end which turns the tide and brings about a complete revolution in the mind and ideology of Daulat) The film depicts the evil of caste ridden society and exposes the hollowness of such a society when, in spite of repeated requests no member of the brotherhood of Daulat Ram comes to his rescue and ultimately it is left to Ashok Banerjee to retrieve the situation. This aspect of the matter is completely absent in the play(vi) The film depicts another. important social evil, namely, the evil of dowry which also appears to be the climax of the story of the film and the horrors of dowry are exhibited and demonstrated in a very practical and forceful fashion. The play however does not deal with this aspect at all. The aspects mentioned above which are absent from the play are not mere surplusage or embellishments in the story of the film but are important and substantial parts of the storyThe effect of the dissimilarities pointed out above clearly go to show that they tar outweigh the effect of the similarities mentioned in para 9 of the plaint set out above. Moreover, even if we examine the similarities mentioned by the plaintiff they are trifling and trivial and touch insignificant points and do not appear to be of a substantial nature. The mere fact that the name of the Madrasi father was Subramaniam in both the film and the play, is hardly of any significance because the name of a particular person cannot be the subject matter of copyright because these are common namesAfter careful consideration of the essential features of the film and the play we are clearly of the opinion that the plaintiff has not proved by clear and cogent evidence that the defendants committed colourable imitation of the play and have thus violated the copyright of the plaintiffThis is undoubtedly so because defendant No. 2 admits in his evidence that he had come to Delhi and the entire play was narrated to him by the plaintiff. There is however a serious controversy on the question as to whether the defendant after hearing play said that the play was not suitable for being filmed as alleged. The plaintiff, however, seems to suggest that defendant No. 2 was undoubtedly Attracted by the play and it was on the basis of this play that he decided to make the film. However, there is no reliable evidence to show that defendant No. 2 at any time expressed his intention to film the play written by the plaintiff. There can be no doubt that defendant No. 2 was aware of the story contained in the play and a part of the film was undoubtedly 6 to some extent inspired by the play written by the plaintiff. But the definite case of defendant No. 2 also is that he was in search of story based on provincialism and the play written by the plaintiff may have provided the opportunity for defendant No. 2 to produce his film though with a different story, different theme, different characterisation and different climaxes.Thus, applying the principles enunciated above and the various tests laid down to determine whether in a particular case there has been a violation of the copyright we are of the opinion that the film produced by the defendants cannot be said to b e a substantial or material copy of the play written by the plaintiff. We also find that the treatment of the film and the manner of its presentation on the screen is quite different from the one written by the plaintiff at the stage. We are also satisfied that after seeing the play and the film no prudent person can get an impression that the film appears to be a copy of the original play nor is there anything to show that the film is a substantial and material copy of the play. At the most the central idea of the play, namely, provincialism is undoubtedly the subject matter of the film along with other ideas also but it is well settled that a mere idea cannot be the subject matter of copyright. Thus, the present case does not fulfill the conditions laid down for holding that the defendants have made a colourable imitation of the playOn a close and careful comparison of the play and the picture but for the central idea (provincialism which is not protected by copyright), from scene to scene, situation to situation, in climax to anti- climax. pathos, bathos, in texture and treatment and purport and presentation, the picture is materially different from the play. As already indicated above, applying the various tests outlined above we are unable to hold that the defendants have committed an act of piracy in violating the copyright of the playApart from this the two courts of fact, having considered the entire evidence, circumstances and materials before them have come to a finding of fact that the defendants committed no violation of the copyright. This Court would be slow to disturb the findings of fact arrived at by the courts below particularly when after having gone through the entire evidence, we feel that the judgment of the courts below are absolutely correct.The result is that the appeal fails and is accordingly dismissed. But in the circumstances there will be no order as to costs in this Court only.