HC paves way for release of Netflix horror series Betaal

Scriptwriter’s copyright infringement plea rejected

Betaal, a horror series produced by actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment and Netflix Entertainment Services, will face no legal obstruction for its worldwide release after a single Bench of the Bombay High Court refused to interfere in its release in a recent order. The web series was scheduled to be released on May 24.

A scriptwriter, Sameer Wadekar had moved the HC praying for an injunction against the production houses, claiming that of the series had many similarities to his work Vetaal, which he penned in 2013-14, and registered with the copyright office and Screen Writers Association in 2015.

Mr. Wadekar claimed that on May 7, he received a YouTube link to the promotional video of Betaal from a friend, and the 146-second clip had at least 13 similarities to his work. He said the projections made by the producers of Betaal had infringed on his copyright and were plagiarised from his fictional story, and the characters, props and locations which he had created.

However, Mr. Wadekar’s claims did not impress the Bench of Justice K.R. Shriram who noted that he did not get convincing answers on how an original story created by Mr. Wadekar had landed in the hands of the writer of Betaal.

The judge also noted that the claim came very late as Netflix had announced Betaal in July 2019, and several publications, print and online, had written stories to that effect.

The judge also noted that the concept of Betaal originates from the mythological story of Vikramaditya and the witty ghost Betaal. But the court allowed Mr. Wadekar to amend his plea and claim damages against the producers of the web series.