A plea preventing 83’s OTT distribution was allegedly denied by the Bombay High Court. The creators and crew of the sports drama ’83’ may breathe a sigh of relief after the Bombay High Court rejected a request to halt the film’s OTT distribution. According to reports, the film, which is based on the famous 1983 World Cup victory led by legendary cricketer Kapil Dev, is now available to view on Netflix and Hotstar. After extensive deliberation, the court ruled in favour of Hotstar and Netflix in regards to the film’s broadcasting rights. The complaint, brought by Mad Man Film Ventures against Reliance Entertainment, was apparently heard by Justice Riyaz Chagla’s bench.
According to India Today, Mad Man Film Ventures has filed a lawsuit to prevent the distribution of 83 due to suspected copyright infringement. Mad Man Film Ventures claimed in his filing that, under the provisions of the permission agreement, ownership of intellectual property was shared between them (37.5 percent), Reliance Entertainment (37.5 percent), and Vibri Media Pvt. Ltd., one of the film’s producers (25 percent ).
The OTT platforms argued that they were granted the rights through agreements that were never challenged and came long before Mad Man and Reliance’s consent terms. Because of Reliance’s non-compliance with this clause, the other party has not been granted its consent towards the platforms to broadcast the movie, and thus Hotstar and Netflix have been asked to refrain from exploiting their rights received through Reliance without Mad Man’s prior consent, according to advocate Virag Tulzapurkar, who is fighting the case for Mad Man.
He also stated that, under the terms of the agreement, it was entitled to a portion of Reliance’s net collection for the very first ten years. According to reports, after hearing both sides, Justice Riyaz Chagla came to the decision that both Star India and Netflix had digital and satellite rights, and thus Mad Man cannot claim intellectual property rights.
Mad Man’s contract will begin after 10 years, according to the Bombay High Court, and Reliance Entertainment Studios Pvt. Ltd. will possess all exclusive rights to 83 until then.
In December 2021, Kabir Khan’s directorial debut was released, starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and Punjabi actors Harrdy Sandhu, Ammy Virk, and others.
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