Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. v. Hamar Television Network Pvt. Ltd. & Anr.
[(2011) 45 PTC 70, ILR (2010) 6 Del 230]
Coram: Single Judge Bench comprising of Hon’ble Justice Rajiv Shakdher.
Forum: Hon’ble Delhi High Court
Case No. : I.A No.12926/2009 & 13058/2009 in CS (OS) No. 1889/2009 & 1906/2009 respectively.
Date of Decision: May 24, 2010

Facts:

  • Super Cassettes Industries Ltd. (Plaintiff) runs under the name of the popular brand, T-Series, and was engaged in the business of manufacturing and marketing audio cassettes.
  • Hamar Television Network Pvt. Ltd. (Defendants) owned a television network that was primarily in the Bhojpuri language and catered to the demand for the regional television market and therefore, ran a series of entertainment and news channels, including ‘Focus TV’.
  • Plaintiff contended that the Defendants were broadcasting Plaintiff’s copyrighted work without any license.
  • The Plaintiff sought an injunction against infringement of its copyright in cinematographic and musical works, seeking to restrain it from broadcasting copyrighted works of the Plaintiff.

Main Issue:

  1. Whether the Defendant was taking substantial extracts from the Plaintiff's work?
  2. Whether the use of the extract by the Defendant was considered “fair” under copyright law?