Lootcase: A Petition to Overprotect

Disney+Hostar recently saw the successful release of the film Lootcase on its domain. With a petition in the Delhi High Court, Mr. Vinay Vats seemed to throttle its circulation owing to a claim of copyright infringement. However, the application was dismissed and the injunction grant declined.

The claim was made due to similarities in the trailer of the film Tukkaa Fit, released in 2011 and the movie Lootcase whose official trailer released on July 16, 2020. The former being the plaintiff’s movie was completed in 2012 but has not been released yet. The script has never been released in the public domain so the only piece of evidence to justify his claim was the trailer.

On analyzing closely, the commonality between the two trailers is the fact that a gangster’s bag of money is misplaced and a common man happens upon it. There stops the likeness. In Tukka fit, the beneficiaries of the bag of money are three men and the presence of a female character who tries to in turn con them. On the other hand, Lootcase revolves around a common man and his family. Had there been a scenario where parts of the trailer were directly used in the movie, which would have been an issue of copyright infringement.

Failure to register the likeness, the court’s judgment was that the theme, on the basis of which the claim was brought, is ‘as old as the hills’ and cannot be protected. Moreover, a trailer of three minutes can only express a facet of the film and cannot be compared to a three-hour-long movie. Added to the fury of the court was the issue of its last-hour claim. The petition was filed on the eve of the release of the film Lootcase. Such claims seem like a tactic to pressurize a favorable outcome. Having been present in the print media since September 2019, the issue with the film should not have been brought in at the last minute.

Even though the protectability of intellectual property can seem tricky, last-minute petitions hinge on the misuse of the judicial processes. Lacking solid grounds the court rightly declined the interim relief sought by the applicant. What it has left for us is to watch the movie, Lootcase and figure out for ourselves if the claims of its success hold true.