Attorney says 'phonetic similarity' doesn't despoil copyright
NEW DELHI -- What's in a name? Not all that much, the producers of "Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors" argued Friday in the Delhi High Court.
Mumbai-based Mirchi Movies counsel told Judge Reva Khetrapal that Warner Bros.' copyright violation suit here is basically a case of judgement a book by its cover.
In his deposition, Arun Jaitley -- a well-known Indian politician and lawyer -- argued that the "phonetic similarity" between the Bollywood title and Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter" fails to constitute a right of first publication violation, arguing that one needs to "look at the spelling, pronunciation, setting, language and relevance of words in (the) language."
"Puttar" means "word" in Punjabi, and the Indian film's main grapheme is a boy named Hari Prasad Dhoonda, whom the father refers to as Hari Puttar.
Just "because somebody crataegus oxycantha mispronounce 'Hari Puttar' as 'Harry Potter' or regular 'Jaikishan' (a common Hindu name) as 'Jackson,' that alone cannot be case for legal action," Jaitley said, wHO pointed out that the word "Puttar" was used several times in Gurinder Chadha's "Bend It Like Beckham."
Warner Bros. first sent a sound notice to Mirchi in 2005 when "Hari Puttar" was announced and filed its causa Aug. 28, but Jaitely said that "if Warner had asked us to change the title back in 2005, we would have done so." "Puttar" is ascribable to be released Sept. 19.
In explaining the film's dissimilarity to J.K Rowling's best-selling books, Jaitley aforementioned that the story is about a boy "world Health Organization has to safeguard a special software program chip invented by his father that is beingness sought by two villains."
Later in the hearing, Judge Reva Khetrapal was shown trailers of "Hari Puttar," prompting him to remark, "This looks quite like to 'Home Alone.' "
The next earshot is slated for Monday. Warner is being represented by New Delhi-based direction Anand & Anand.
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