No Copyright Protection for Film Titles: Bombay HC dismisses Lootere Producer's Plea

• 20 Aug 2025
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The Bombay High Court, on 18 August 2025, dismissed a plea filed by producer of the 1993 Bollywood movie titled Lootere. The producer approached the court to restrain the release of a web series having the same title. The court ruled that registering a film title with an industry body is a private arrangement. It does not confer any legal rights like copyright. 

A single-judge bench, led by Justice Sandeep Marne, stated that registrations granted by organizations like producers' associations are internal arrangements among their members and do not hold any legal authority.  

“No statute confers right on associations of film producers to grant registration of titles or any other copyrightable works,” the bench said while rejecting the plea filed by Sunil Saberwal, the producer of the 1993 Lootere movie.

Plea Filed by Saberwal

Saberwal, in his plea filed in 2024, claimed that Star India (now JioStar India) violated his copyright by producing an eight-part web series known as Lootere for the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. He stated that he had produced a film called Lootere, featuring Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla, among others, in the year 1993. This film was registered with the Registrar of Copyrights and its title was also registered with the Western India Film Producers’ Association. 

After noticing that Star India was developing a web series with the same title, Saberwal decided to approach the doors of the court. Although the series was released on Disney+ Hotstar in May 2024, Saberwal sought its removal from the streaming platform. However, Star India argued that several Hindi films with the same titles have been released over the years, including Hera Pheri, Aankhen, Dilwale, Dostana, Shandaar and Dosti. 

Therefore, they contended that mere similarity in the title does not constitute any copyright violation in any manner. They emphasized that it is necessary to establish similarity in the literary content of the two works. The romantic 1993 movie produced by Saberwal absolutely bears no resemblance to Star India's eight-episode series about Somalian pirates hijacking an Indian vessel. 

The bench accepted the argument and said,”..so long as the story of the two films is different, mere similarity in the title would not give rise to an actionable claim under the provisions of (the) Copyright Act.”

Further, the bench said the registration of film with the producers’ association is entirely a private matter and is binding only on its members. It has no sanctity in the eyes of law. Against a non-member of the association, like Star India, such a contractual right can’t be enforced.

Source: Hindustan Times