Muthooth Finance Ltd. v. The Indian Performing Rights Society Limited

The Press Trust Of India LimitedvsNavbharat Press (Bhopal Pvt. Ltd.)

The Press Trust Of India Limited filed a suit against Navbharat Press (Bhopal Pvt. Ltd.) alleging unauthorized copying and reproduction of its proprietary news articles in their publications, 'Central Chronicle' and 'Navbharat'. The plaintiff asserted that as the owner of copyright in the content created by its employees, it held exclusive rights to reproduce and disseminate the work. Despite issuing legal notices, the defendants continued the alleged infringement. The court found that the defendants' publications were verbatim copies or colorable imitations of the plaintiff's copyrighted works. Consequently, the Delhi High Court granted a permanent injunction restraining further infringement and awarded punitive damages of Rs. 5 lac to the plaintiff.

K.R. Ravi RathinamvsThe Director General Of Police and others

The petitioner, K.R. Ravi Rathinam, filed a Writ Petition seeking a detailed inquiry by police authorities into the alleged theft and unauthorized use of his story ('Mullai Vanam 999') in another film ('Linga'). The court dismissed the petition, holding that the dispute was private and that the appropriate remedy for intellectual property claims is through a Civil Suit or Criminal Law proceedings, not under Article 226.

Director Of Income TaxvsInfrasoft Ltd.

The dispute centered on whether payments received by Infrasoft Ltd. for licensing its civil engineering software constituted royalty income under the India-US Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA). The Assessing Officer had taxed these receipts as royalty, leading to an appeal by the Director of Income Tax. The Delhi High Court ultimately ruled in favor of Infrasoft, holding that the payment was merely for a limited right to use the copyrighted material, not the copyright itself, and thus qualified as business income.

Microsoft CorporationvsKaran Puri Prop. Of M/S Puri Computers

Microsoft Corporation filed a suit against Karan Puri Prop. Of M/S Puri Computers alleging that the defendant was infringing their copyrights by unauthorized hard-disk loading of Microsoft Windows and Office software onto branded computers sold to customers. The plaintiffs sought a permanent injunction, delivery-up of copies, and damages for piracy. Despite the defendant remaining ex-parte throughout the proceedings, the Delhi High Court found sufficient uncontroverted material on record to sustain the claim.

M/S. K.R.C.D. (I) Pvt. Ltd.vsCommnr. Of Central Excise, Mumbai

The dispute concerned whether the royalty paid for music embedded in master CDs should be included in the assessable value when M/S. K.R.C.D. (I) Pvt. Ltd. manufactured duplicate CDs on a job work basis. The appellant argued that since they only copied the content and did not exploit the intellectual property, no royalty could be charged. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the appellant.