The Delhi High Court has held that “Sholay” is the title of an “iconic film” which, as an icon, cannot be treated as devoid of protection and that the use of the film’s title has been prohibited by those who are allegedly are misusing it. , The High Court, which observed that some films like ‘Sholay’ cross the boundaries of simple words, also awarded a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the makers of the film – Sholay Media and others. Entertainment Pvt Ltd and Sippy Films Pvt Ltd – who had filed suit against individuals using popular film titles to run their business.
Justice Pratibha M Singh, while dealing with the trademark litigation, observed that titles and films are capable of being recognized under the trademark law. The judge said that the matter was contested for more than 20 years and the adoption of the mark ‘Sholay’ by the defendants to sell DVDs of the film on their websites etc. was clearly malicious and dishonest and cost and damages 25 per cent. Lakhs of rupees were given. The plaintiff and the defendants were given three months to pay the amount.
Accordingly, the Respondent, their directors, partners, owners, and any person acting on their behalf shall be liable to use the name ‘Sholay’ in connection with any goods and services and to use and create the domain name ‘Sholay.com’ is prevented from The court, in its order issued on May 23, said that any reference to the film ‘Sholay’ or use of any picture or clippings from the said film, as well as sale of goods using the name Sholay or any image of the said cinematographic film.
The word ‘Sholay’, the title of an iconic film, and consequently, as a mark associated with the film, manufactured and now vested in the plaintiff, cannot be considered devoid of protection. Few movies cross the limit of simple words and the title of the film ‘Sholay’ is one of them. Titles and films capable of being recognized under trademark law and India The court said ‘Sholay’ would be a classic example of such a case. The court restrained the defendants from using the ‘Sholay’ mark or any variation of the name on the Internet or as a metatag in the source code and directed the plaintiffs to transfer the infringing domain names.
If there is one film that is ahead of generations of Indians, it is ‘Sholay’. The said film, its characters, dialogues, setting and box office collections are legendary. The court said that undoubtedly, ‘Sholay’ is one of the biggest, record-breaking films ever made by India in the history of Indian cinema. In the present case, the defendants have fought the case for more than 20 years. The adoption of the ‘Sholay’ mark by the Respondents was clearly malicious and dishonest, owing to the use of infringing logos, designs, DVD sales of the film ‘Sholay’ on the Respondents’ website, etc., it said.
The plaintiffs, represented by advocate Praveen Anand and Dhruv Anand of the law firm Anand & Anand, filed suit against the defendants for indulging in several infringing activities, including registering the domain name sholay.com, mark/name ‘Sholay’ Publishing a magazine using ‘ and selling merchandise using scenes and names from the film released on August 15, 1975. The defendants sought to justify their use of the plaintiff’s mark on a number of grounds, including that the title of the film does not deserve protection, there is no possibility of confusion on the Internet, and that ‘Sholay’ is a dictionary word.
It was submitted that the plaintiff’s intention was to extort money from the defendants who had created a popular website named ‘Sholay.com’ registered in the United States.
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