Wunderbar Films, the production house of Actor Dhanush, told the Madras High Court on Wednesday that it held the copyright over all characters and even the costumes used for the film 2015 movie Naanum Rowdy Dhaan..Despite this, actor Nayanthara, who was a lead in the film, had used without permission around "28 seconds" worth of behind the scenes footage from the film in her documentary that was aired on Netflix India, the production house contended..Advocate General and Senior Advocate PS Raman, who appeared in his personal capacity for Wunderbar Films, told Justice Abdul Quddhose that in using such footage, Nayanthara had breached provisions of the Copyright Act, 1957, and, therefore, the civil suit against her must be heard by the Court."We (the firm and Nayanthara) signed an agreement saying I have the copyright over every character, everything to do with the film. I even have copyright over the costumes she (Nayanthara) has worn in my film. So, the suit is not barred. it has a cause of action and can go for hearing," Raman argued..Raman was responding to two applications filed by Los Gatos Production Services (the entity through which Netflix reports its content investments in India) seeking rejection of the leave granted by the Court earlier to Wunderbar to sue Nayanthara over alleged copyright infringement and also seeking complete rejection of such plaint.Senior Advocate R Parthasarathy, who appeared for Las Gatos, urged the Court to reject Wunderbar's plaint, saying that the Madras High Court had no jurisdiction over the suit since Wunderbar's registered office was not in Chennai, but in Kanchipuram district. Therefore, he argued that the production company should have approached either a Kanchipuram district court as per Section 62 of the Copyright Act of 1957, or the Bombay High Court as per Clause 12 of the Letters Patent Act, 1865, since Netflix had its registered office in Mumbai."How did you come to Madras? You have chosen Section 62 of the Copyright Act. Therefore, your remedy is before Kanchipuram court. In Kanchipuram, you don't even need leave (permission of the Court to file such suit and implead the said defendants)," Parthasarathy said..Raman, however, told the Court that at the time Nayanthara signed her contract for the 2015 film with Wunderbar Films, she and Wunderbar had their respective registered offices in Chennai. A part of the film too was shot in Chennai and the Netflix documentary had been released to be watched all across India, including Chennai. Therefore, Wunderbar had every right to file its suit before the Madras High Court, he said..On November 16 this year, Nayanthara claimed on her social media handles that Dhanush was harbouring a personal grudge against her and her husband. She also said in such posts that she was shocked to receive a legal notice from Dhanush seeking damages of ₹10 crore after the release of the Netflix documentary trailer about the actress in which three seconds of behind-the-scenes footage of Naanum Rowdy Dhaan had been used.Nayanthara, who is the third defendant in the present suit, is represented before the High Court through Senior Advocate Satish Parasaran..The Court recorded all submissions and reserved orders on the two applications filed by Las Gatos.
