In a blow to actor Kajal Agarwal, the Madras High Court on Monday dismissed an appeal filed by her to prevent a private hair oil production firm from publishing an advertisement beyond a period of one year.
According to a report in the Times of India, a division bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Anand Venkatesh ruled that VVD and Sons, the hair oil company, is the first holder of the advertisement.
The actor had reportedly alleged that the company was to use the advert for only a year but had done so beyond that period from 2008.
The bench ruled, “A person who becomes the first owner of the copyright for his entire work, has been conferred with a statutory right for a period of 60 years over the cinematograph of the film. This statutory right cannot be taken away by a performer in the cinematograph film by virtue of an agreement. Hence, we hold that VVD is entitled to exploit the work for the entire term prescribed under Section 26 of the Copyright Act and is not restricted for a period of one year by the agreement.”
According to Section 26 of the Copyright Act, which deals with ‘Term of copyright in cinematograph films’, “copyright shall subsist until sixty years from the beginning of the calendar year next following the year in which the film is published.”
As per a report in The Hindu. Kajal had also claimed compensation to the tune of Rs 2.5 crores.
Dismissing the need to pay damages, the court said, “There are absolutely no materials for this court to award compensation to Kajal Agarwal in this case. Once she consented to incorporate her performance as an action in the film by VVD, who is the author of it, she cannot stop VVD from enjoying the right of producer..In the instant case there are absolutely no materials to fix the entitlement of Kajal in terms of royalties.”