Big relief to the makers and team of sports drama '83’ as the Bombay High court has refused a plea to stay OTT release of the movie. As per reports, the movie, which is based on the historic 1983 World Cup win under the captainship of former cricketer Kapil Dev, can now stream on Netflix and Hotstar. The court announced the verdict regarding the broadcasting rights of the film in favour of Hotstar and Netflix after much consideration. The bench of Justice Riyaz Chagla reportedly heard the suit, filed by Mad Man Film Ventures against Reliance Entertainment Studio and others.
As per an India Today report, Mad Man Film Ventures lodged a suit to seek an injunction against the release of 83 for alleged copyright infringement. In his plea, Mad Man Film Ventures asserted that following the consent terms, the ownership of intellectual property was divided between them (37.5%), Reliance Entertainment (37.5%), and Vibri Media Pvt. Ltd., one of the producers of the film (25%).
The OTT platforms claimed that they were given the rights through agreements that were not under challenge and much before the consent terms between Mad Man and Reliance. Advocate Virag Tulzapurkar, who is fighting the case for Mad Man, said that because of the non-compliance of this clause by Reliance, the other party had not been granted its consent to the platforms to broadcast the film, and hence Hotstar and Netflix was asked to restrain from exploiting their rights received through Reliance without Mad Man’s prior consent. ALSO READ: VIRAL! Ranveer Singh Gets Goofy While Posing With Supermodel Bella Hadid; Fan Says, ‘Woah Baba Aur Bella’-SEE PIC
He further revealed that as per the clauses, for the first 10 years period, it was entitled to receive a percentage of the net collection from Reliance.
Reportedly, Justice Riyaz Chagla after hearing both sides came to a conclusion that both Star India and Netflix have digital and satellite rights and that Mad Man cannot claim rights to intellectual property. The Bombay High Court also mentioned that Mad Man’s contract only starts after 10 years and till then Reliance Entertainment Studios Pvt. Ltd. Owns all the exclusive rights of 83.
Starring Ranveer, Deepika Padukone, Punjabi actors Harrdy Sandhu, Ammy Virk, and others, Kabir Khan’s directorial was released in December 2021.
Image source: Ranveer Singh Instagram