R.G. Anand v Delux Films (1978)

Intellectual Property Rights II · Remedies Against Infringement of Copyright

Facts.

The playwright R.G. Anand’s play Hum Hindustani dealt with provincialism; a later film, New Delhi, shared the broad theme. Anand alleged infringement.

Issue.

Does copyright protect the theme/idea of a work, so that a later work on the same theme infringes?

Held.

No. Copyright protects expression, not ideas, themes or plots. Infringement requires that the later work be a substantial copy such that a viewer gets the unmistakable impression that it is a copy. On the facts, there was no infringement.

Why it matters.

It is the foundational Indian authority on the idea–expression dichotomy and the test of substantial similarity, cited in almost every copyright dispute.

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