Indian Filmmaker Wins Copyright Case Against Google And YouTube

Filmmaker Suneel Darshan has won a copyright infringement case against Google and its video-streaming platform YouTube, after an eight-year-long court battle. Darshan, the proprietor of film production company Shree Krishna International, had filed a suit for permanent injunction against Google India and YouTube LLC, in 2011, in the district court of Gurugram for infringement of his copyright. The court awarded damages amounting to Rs. 50,000/- to Darshan and restrained Google and YouTube from infringing on his works. Darshan had argued that Google and YouTube had infringed on his copyright in respect of the sound recording, cinematograph films and audio-visual songs of his films by uploading them and generating an ad-revenue without authorization or a license from Darshan.