In R.G. Anand v. Delux Films, AIR 1978 SC 1613, the Supreme Court laid down the test for copyright infringement of a play / film:
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D.
1. In R.G. Anand v. Delux Films (1978), the Supreme Court considered whether the film 'New Delhi' infringed the play 'Hum Hindustani'.
2. The Court laid down: 'There can be no copyright in an idea, subject-matter, themes, plots or historical or legendary facts and violation of the copyright in such cases is confined to the form, manner and arrangement and expression of the idea by the author of the copyrighted work.'
3. The leading test: 'one of the surest and the safest tests to determine whether or not there has been a violation of copyright is to see if the reader, spectator or the viewer after having read or seen both the works is clearly of the opinion and gets an unmistakable impression that the subsequent work appears to be a copy of the original'.
4. The Court found NO infringement because the treatment, theme, and characters were substantially different.
5. Hence option A is correct.
_Source: Patents Act 1970 / Copyright Act 1957 / Trade Marks Act 1999 (Bare Acts, IPIndia portal + Copyright Office) — R.G. Anand v. Delux Films, AIR 1978 SC 1613_
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