‘No Copyright on Common Ideas’: Bombay HC Dismisses Infringement Case Against Dream Girl 2

The Bombay High Court has rejected a copyright infringement and breach of confidence claim against Balaji Telefilms Ltd. over the film Dream Girl 2, reinforcing that copyright law does not grant monopoly over common ideas, themes, or stock elements. Justice R.I. Chagla, noting that the applicant’s work and the defendants’ film were “completely different,” imposed costs of ₹2 lakh on the applicant — ₹1 lakh each to Defendant 1 (Balaji Telefilms) and Defendant 5.

The case was initiated by a scriptwriter who claimed that Dream Girl 2 copied his registered script Kal Kisne Dekha (later re-registered as The Show Must Go On). His script centred on a male protagonist who, through gender disguise, navigates a series of comedic situations with the risk of exposure hanging over him. The applicant described this as a “novel idea,” but also compared it to the Mrs. Doubtfire act — a nod to the famous Hollywood film that used gender disguise as its central premise. He alleged that the script was confidential and had been shared with Defendant 4 while seeking a producer. The defendants, he argued, had access to this work and used it without permission.

Balaji Telefilms, however, maintained that Dream Girl 2 was an original creation. Under a Writer Service Agreement, the company engaged a writer (Defendant 4) to develop the concept, story, screenplay, and dialogues. Defendant 5 also claimed sole authorship of an original literary work titled Dream Girl 2, registered in 2021 with the Screenwriters Association. The defendants emphasized that gender-disguise comedies are a long-standing genre in both Indian and international cinema and cannot be monopolized under the Copyright Act, 1957.

Court’s Detailed Reasoning

Justice Chagla took a close look at both the applicant’s script and the defendants’ film. The Court highlighted that copyright protection applies to the expression of an idea, not the idea itself — a principle well established in Indian jurisprudence.

• Lack of Originality: The “salient features” identified by the applicant were not original expressions but common ideas, themes, and scenes-a-faire (stock situations that naturally flow from a genre).
• No Monopoly on Tropes: Gender disguise is a familiar comedic trope in films worldwide, from Bollywood productions to international hits like Mrs. Doubtfire. Such elements cannot be considered novel or protectable.
• Improper Comparison Method: The applicant relied on a piecemeal or dissected comparison between individual scenes of his script and the defendants’ film. The Court reiterated that the proper test is the overall impression, and when viewed as a whole, the two works were “entirely distinct.”
• Breach of Confidence Fails: Applying the test from Beyond Dreams Entertainment v. Zee Entertainment, the Court held that the applicant failed to prove key elements — including the existence of confidential information, its misuse, and resulting harm.
• Judicial Time: The Court observed that commercial suits consume significant judicial resources, and these cannot be wasted on “fanciful claims” lacking the fundamentals of copyright infringement.

The Court also dismissed the applicant’s attempt to link a prior suit filed by Defendant 5 to the current proceedings, holding that the earlier dispute was unrelated to the contents of the defendants’ film and had been resolved through consent terms.

Final Decision

The application was dismissed in its entirety, and the Court directed the applicant to pay costs of ₹2 lakh to the defendants within four weeks. Justice Chagla underscored that the law does not allow litigants to weaponize copyright over generic, widely used ideas, particularly when the works in question are demonstrably different.

Legalspace Take

This decision serves as a clear reminder of the idea-expression dichotomy under copyright law. Protection extends to the unique treatment, dialogues, characters, and sequence of events in a work — not to common plot devices or themes. For content creators, this underscores the importance of documenting and registering original expressions rather than relying solely on broad concepts. For litigators, it reinforces the need to focus infringement claims on substantive similarities in protectable expression, not thematic overlap.

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