Bombay High Court has directed OTT platform Amazon Prime Video to remove the Venkateshwara Creations Pvt Ltd, Telugu movie titled “V” starring Nani within 24 hours until the makers of the film deleted a scene in which a city-based actor's photograph was allegedly used without prior permission. Actress Sakshi Malik’s photograph was used illegally in the film following which she had filed a petition seeking removal of her image. Her advocate called it an invasion of privacy.
Filing a petition in Bombay High Court stating that a Mumbai-based photographer had clicked a photo of hers in August 2017 for portfolio, Sakshi Malik said she had posted one of the photos on her Instagram account.
In the Telugu movie ‘V’ which was released on Amazon in September 2020, Sakshi’s photo is has been used in a scene where she is portrayed as a commercial sex worker. She alleged that the photo has been lifted from her Instagram account.
Advocates Alankar Kirpekar and Saveena T Bedi told the court that this was a 'wholly unauthorised invasion of privacy and unauthorised use of private material.' The court too felt that there is a case of defamation.
The filmmakers informed the court that they had contacted a commercial agency for a suitable photograph for a particular sequence in the film and they were assured that the image could be utilized legitimately.
"This seems to be less than compelling. Surely any right-thinking motion picture producer would have insisted on seeing an approval or consent by the model or person who is featured or to is featured. It would be standard procedure almost anywhere, and this would be true whether the issue is one of copyright in the photograph or of use with permission of an image of the model in question for a particular sequence," Justice Gautam Patel said about the filmmakers' argument.
Justice Patel agreed with Malik’s advocates’ arguments and said, "It seems to me self-evident that it is not possible to use the image of any person for a commercial purpose without written consent. If images are to be used without consent, they must be covered by some sort of legally enforceable and tenable licensing regime, whether with or without royalty.”
Using another image and especially a private image without consent is “impermissible, unlawful and entirely illegal” and over here it may also be defamatory, depending on the type of use, noted Justice Patel.
"The question of consent, or, more accurately, the damage done from the failure to obtain the plaintiff's (Malik's) consent and permission to use her photograph and image in any manner at all. The fact that the image has been illicitly used is bad enough. It only makes matters worse when used in a plainly derogatory and demeaning vein,” observed Justice Patel.
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Observing all the arguments, the court ordered Amazon to take down the film until the filmmakers have completely deleted Malik’s images from the film.
Mere blurring or pixelating the image by the film’s team will not be accepted, the court stated, adding it has to be completely removed soon.
The court has restrained the filmmakers from releasing the film on any other platform or through any medium or in any version until the deletions have been made.
The court will further hear the case on March 8.