Bombay HC Asks Amazon Prime To Pull Down Telegu Movie ‘V’

OVERVIEW

The Bombay High Court issued notice to the online streaming platform Amazon Prime to pull down the Telegu film ‘V’ due to a defamation suit filed by the Bollywood actor Sakshi Malik.

Malik filed the suit against Venkateshwar Creations Pvt. Ltd. for allegedly using her image without her permission in the movie that released on September 5, 2020.
Her representatives, Advocates Saveena Bedi and Alankar Kirpekar submitted that the image was taken from the model’s Instagram account and sought damages on the same grounds – unauthorised invasion of privacy, unauthorised use of private material, and nature of use of the picture.

BACKGROUND 

Ms. Malik commissioned a photographer for the photoshoot on July 24, 2017, which took place on August 1. Following the shoot, a few days later the photographer shared the photos via Google Drive link. Later, the actress uploaded one of the photos from the portfolio on her Instagram account.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 

Malik submitted that her was utilised in the movie as a reference to a female escort or a sex worker. In her complaint, her added that the ‘unauthorised use of private material was an invasion of her privacy.’

The court remarked the following,

“It seems to me self-evident that it is not possible to use the image of any person for a commercial purpose without express consent, they must be covered by some sort of legally enforceable and tenable licensing regime, whether with or without royalty. Simply using another’s image, and most especially a private image, without consent is prima facie impermissible, unlawful and entirely illegal. In a given case, it may also be defamatory, depending on the type of use,”

The Court asked Amazon to pull down all versions of the movie regardless of the language and subtitles, and directed Venkateshwara Creations Pvt. Ltd. had discarded all images of Ms. Malik. Mere pixilation or blurring of images would not be permitted.

CONCLUSION 

Justice Gautam Patel thus restrained the release of the movie on media platforms through any medium in any version.

WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS REGARDING THIS MOVE OF THE HIGH COURT? LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION!