Madras High Court Allows Theatrical Release Of Jayam Ravi-Starrer 'Karathey Babu' Amid Copyright Dispute

On 1 September, the Madras High Court permitted Screen Scene Media Entertainment to proceed with the theatrical release of Tamil film Karathey Babu, starring Jayam Ravi, and modified an interim injunction that had restrained the producer from releasing, distributing or otherwise dealing with the film.

Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed the order on applications filed by Screen Scene Media Entertainment seeking to vacate the interim injunction in a suit filed by Dr. S. Venkatesh. The Bench observed:

“From the above, it could be observed that the copy rights and other rights both commercial and non commercial in various modes have been given to the plaintiff except the theatrical rights.”

Dr. Venkatesh had sued Screen Scene claiming that under a sale agreement dated 12 May 2022 and its amendments, the company had assigned him the copyright and various commercial rights relating to the film, including satellite, OTT, dubbing and remake rights.

He sought an injunction restraining Screen Scene from exploiting or otherwise dealing with these rights. He relied on a letter issued by the company to a film laboratory acknowledging the assignment and minutes of a meeting dated 25 November 2024, in which Screen Scene was said to have affirmed the assignment.

Based on these documents, the High Court initially granted the interim injunction on 25 June 2026. Dr. Venkatesh explained that these agreements and subsequent amendments became necessary after Screen Scene breached their original 2022 contract by releasing another film, “Production No. 8” (later titled Brother), without honoring his assignment rights. To remedy this breach, the parties executed amendments specifically assigning the rights of “Production No. 9” (Karathey Babu) to Dr. Venkatesh to secure his interests.

Seeking to undo this restraint, Screen Scene sought to vacate the injunction, arguing that it had been obtained through “calculated misrepresentation”.

Examining the 2022 sale agreement and its amendments, the Court found that they assigned Dr. Venkatesh an extensive bundle of rights, including satellite, OTT, cable, digital, dubbing, remake, merchandising and NFT-related rights. However, the agreements did not include theatrical rights. It also considered Screen Scene's claim that the agreements had been fabricated using blank signed papers. It observed:

“Even though the defendant had disputed the agreement, he has not disputed the signatures found in the said agreements... this Court is of the prima facie view that the plaintiff would be entitled for an injunction for violating the assignment rights that had vested with it under the agreements as amended.”

The Bench rejected Screen Scene's objection that its Managing Director had signed the agreements on behalf of multiple group companies, noting that he had not disputed his role in those companies.

However, since theatrical rights were not part of the assignment, it held that the injunction could not extend to restraining the film's theatrical release.

Accordingly, the High Court disposed of the applications by restricting the injunction to the rights specifically assigned under the sale agreement dated 12 May 2022 and its amendments, while allowing Screen Scene to proceed with the theatrical release of Karathey Babu.