In a lawsuit brought against a person who was allegedly impersonating a casting director for the online series "Criminal Justice," the Bombay High Court on Thursday granted ad interim relief to Applause Entertainment, the show's creators.
The respondent, Krishna Anand, was ordered by Justice RI Chagla to stop using or publishing on social media any posts or images of the performers, characters, or their still images from the web series.
Anand received a legal warning from the producers asking him to remove the Instagram postings and to stop utilising the plaintiff's content after they discovered a casting call for the web series he had posted on the platform.
He was sued for violating copyright after he refused to comply. It aimed to stop Anand from engaging in copyright infringement, violating the plaintiff's right to privacy, misrepresenting the facts, and passing off.
The plea alleged that the respondent had unlawfully used the plaintiff's creative works, promotional materials, creatives, and still images for the plaintiff's web series "Criminal Justice."
According to the submission, the respondent violated the plaintiff's copyright by exploiting still photos of actors, characters, and scenes from the web series for illegal promotional purposes and by casting new episodes. In addition to male artists, the defendant also encouraged female and young artists to audition, according to the plaint.
It was suspected that the defendant may misuse the photos and videos he acquired in order to engage in other unlawful conduct.
Furthermore, it was claimed that the defendant committed the wrongdoing on purpose, dishonestly, and in bad faith in order to seduce innocent bystanders and unfairly capitalise on their naivete and innocence as fledgling actors attempting to stand out in a cutthroat market.
[Applause Entertainment Private Ltd. vs Krishna Anand]