MUMBAI: A Hindi film producer who made a 1993 film starring Sunny Deol has lost his bid to stop Disney+ Hotstar from streaming a digital series with the same title, after a Bombay high court judge ruled that film titles cannot be copyrighted.
Sunil Darshan Saberwal, who produced the Hindi feature film Lootere three decades ago, sued Star India (now JioStar India) and others in March 2024, seeking to prevent them from using what he claimed was his registered title for their piracy-themed web series.
But justice Sandeep Marne dismissed Saberwal’s application for a temporary injunction on 18 August, delivering a comprehensive rejection of his copyright claims and dealing a significant blow to long-standing industry practices around title registration.
The judge ruled that “there cannot be a copyright in mere title of a film”, citing Supreme Court precedent that titles are “incomplete in themselves” and do not qualify as literary works under India’s Copyright Act of 1957. The ruling follows the apex court’s 2016 decision in Krishika Lulla v Shyam Vithalrao Devkatta, which established that commonplace words like Desi Boys lack the originality required for copyright protection.
Saberwal’s 1993 romantic drama bears no resemblance to Star India’s eight-episode series about Somalian pirates hijacking an Indian vessel. The court noted that “except similarity in the title, plaintiff’s cinematograph film Lootere admittedly does not have any similarity in terms of story with the series.”
The producer had registered the title Lootere with film industry associations including the Western India Film Producers Association, arguing this gave him exclusive rights. But the court dismissed such registrations as “purely private arrangements having no sanctity in law,” enforceable only between association members through contract.
“The associations formed by film producers and registrations granted by such associations are nothing but an internal contractual arrangement between the members,” justice Marne stated. Since Star India was not a member of the relevant association, it could not be bound by Saberwal’s registration.
The judgment highlighted how Bollywood routinely produces multiple films with identical titles—citing examples including Hera Pheri, Aankhen and Dilwale —without legal challenge, provided the underlying stories differ.
The court also criticised Saberwal’s lengthy delay in pursuing legal action. Though he first noticed the series trailer in September 2022, he waited until March 2024 to file suit—by which time the series had already been streaming on Disney+ Hotstar for months.
“Plaintiff has whiled away substantial time of about two years despite acquiring knowledge of plans,” the judge observed, noting this delay was “fatal” to claims for emergency relief.
The decision undermines the film industry’s practice of treating title registrations as conferring legal rights, potentially opening the door to more disputes over popular names. Industry associations have historically operated these registration systems to prevent conflicts between producers, but the ruling clarifies they carry no statutory weight against non-members.
Saberwal’s legal team had argued that Star India’s own attempts to secure clearance for the title from producer Boney Kapoor proved the industry recognises such rights. But the court found this irrelevant since it was undertaken by a production services company, not Star India itself.
The series Lootere continues streaming on Disney+ Hotstar, having premiered in March 2024. Saberwal retains the option to pursue damages rather than injunctive relief, though his suit contains no such claim.
The ruling reinforces that while films and their underlying literary works enjoy copyright protection, titles remain in the public domain unless they achieve trademark status or generate sufficient goodwill for passing-off claims—a much higher bar than simple registration with industry bodies.
