'Toilet: Ek Prem Katha' makers argue in copyright case

Jaipur: A local court here on Monday heard in part the arguments in a case of violation of the Copyright Act by makers of Akshay Kumar starrer "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha". "Today the arguments remained inconclusive in Jaipur Metropolitan Court and will continue tomorrow too," G.D. Bansal, advocate for Jaipur-based filmmaker Pratik Sharma, said here on Monday. A copyright infringement case was brought up by Sharma against Plan C Studios, an alliance between Reliance Entertainment and Friday Filmworks helmed by Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia, and Viacom18 on July 7 in a Jaipur Metropolitan Court. Sharma alleged that the makers have lifted the punchline and the subject from his film "Gutrun Gutar Gun". ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ actor Akshay Kumar narrates the incident when he was SEXUALLY ABUSED as a child! S.S. Hora, counsel of Viacom18, told IANS: "We argued in the court that an idea or a concept cannot fall under Copyright Act and there is no violation of the act. These types of things are already in public domain and no relief should be given to the complainant." The Jaipur Metropolitan Court on July 26 asked the makers of "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" to file a reply or enter into arguments in the case of copyright violation on July 31. The court had earlier issued a notice returnable on July 22, but as a strike by the clerical staff was going on, the court gave the respondents July 26 as a new date for filing their reply. "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha", directed by Shree Narayan Singh, deals with the need of sanitisation in India and is based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swachh Bharat campaign. It features Bhumi Pednekar with Akshay.