The City Civil Court of Hyderabad has imposed an ad-interim injunction on Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming show “Lock Upp.” After a hearing and a review of the petitioner Sanober Baig’s documents, the order was issued. Sanober Baig is the sole owner of the story and script for the concept ‘The Jail.’ The court also recorded a video clip from the trailer for ‘Lock Upp,’ concluding that the both of them appear to be identical. Since the show was set to premiere on February 27, 2022, the court issued an injunction with an urgent notice preventing the show’s broadcast on any electronic medium, social media, or other platforms.
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Pride Media, through its owner Sanober Baig, owns the concept, which was written by Shaantanu Ray and Sheershak Anand and registered under the copyright legislation on March 7, 2018. The Film Writers Association has it registered. Mr. Baig, the plaintiff, has revealed how the concept was formed and explained the concept in depth in his petition, including the amount of money he invested at various phases of concept development.
Commenting on the situation Sanober said, “When I saw the promo of the said show I was in shock. I have been in touch with Abhishek Rege from Endemol Shine for a long time and had several meetings about the subject in Hyderabad. He had promised that once the market gets better, we will get going. The show is not only similar to our concept but an absolute copy of the same. I could not believe that somebody could plagiarise the concept to such an extent. We have prayed to the court infringement of the copyright and have got a stay order.”
If the infringement is proved, the defendant production houses will be liable for consequences under sections 51 and 52 of the Copyright Act. “I connected with the respective companies and requested them not to go ahead with the concept. But they turned a deaf ear and challenged that they have every right to stream as per the schedule. I had no option but to seek redressal from the judiciary. The notice has been served to all the parties involved and we have the acknowledgment of the same. If the show gets aired it’ll be a contempt of the court. I have full faith in the judiciary and am sure that justice will be served,” said Baig as he signed off at the moment.
