A Hyderabad court has vacated a stay order and allowed the reality show 'LockUpp', hosted by Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut, to stream as planned.
The news comes a day after the court had taken note of a video clip of the trailer of the show and had issued an ad-interim injunction on releasing the upcoming show, saying that it bears resemblance to petitioner Sanober Baig’s story and the script of ‘The Jail’.
The concept, which is owned by Pride Media through its proprietor Baig, was written by Shaantanu Ray and Sheershak Anand and is registered under the Copyright Act on March 7, 2018 and was also registered at the Film Writers Association.
The petition explained how the concept was developed and also lists the details of the money invested by him at various stages of concept development.
Commenting on the situation, Baig earlier said they were surprised when they saw the promo of the show. “When I saw the promo of the said show, I was in shock. I have been in touch with Abhishek Rege from Endemol Shine for a long time and had several meetings about the subject in Hyderabad. He had promised that once the market gets better, we will get going,” Baid said.
He further claimed that the show was a rip off. “The show is not only similar to our concept, but it is an absolute copy of the same. I could not believe that somebody could plagiarise the concept to such an extent. We have prayed to the court for infringement of copyright and have got a stay order,” Baig added.
Baig said that he didn’t directly knock on the court’s door. It was only after the production house refused to have a dialogue with him that he reached out to the court.
“I connected with the respective companies and requested them not to go ahead with the concept. But they turned a deaf ear and challenged that they have every right to stream as per the schedule,” he said.
“I had no option but to seek redressal from the judiciary. The notice has been served to all the parties involved and we have the acknowledgement of the same. If the show gets aired, it’ll be a contempt of the court. I have full faith in the judiciary and I am sure that justice will be served,” Baig added.
