Bengaluru court grants interim injunction to law student who sued Lloyd College professors for copyright infringement

A Bangalore court on Monday granted an interim injunction in favour of a law student who sued two professors of Lloyd Law College and a foreign journal for copyright infringement [Aathira Mannath A v. Lloyd Law College]..Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge Padma Prasad issued summons to the two professors and the editor of the Journal of Survey in Fisheries Sciences, Ottawa, Canada."The defendants or anybody claiming under them are hereby restrained from infringing the literary work of the plaintiff namely 'The Challenges of providing Humanitarian Assistance in Non-permissive Environments' or any part thereof that amounts to infringement of the plaintiff's copyright..." the order stated..The plaintiff in the case was one Aathira A Mannath, a second-year law student from School of Legal Studies, CMR University, Bangalore. As per the suit, she had participated in a conference organized by Lloyd Law College, Noida earlier this year, where she presented a research paper titled The Challenges of providing Humanitarian Assistance in Non-Permissive Environments.In the last week of May 2023, Mannath discovered that her research paper was published under the same title in the Canadian journal. She found that the authors of the said paper were two professors of Lloyd Law College, which had conducted the conference she had attended.She subsequently issued a legal notice to the defendants seeking issuance of an unconditional apology and also acknowledgement of the fact that the published paper exclusively belongs her. She also asked the journal to take steps to remove the plagiarized content. After receiving no reply, she filed the suit..Before the court, she argued that her research work is a 'literary work' under Section 2(o) of Copyright Act 1957, in which she has an exclusive right. It was argued that the moment the two professors copied her work without due authorization, it amounted to infringement of her copyright.It was argued that the defendants have violated Section 57 of the Copyright Act 1957 and their actions constitute a criminal offence under Section 65 of the Copyright Act 1957. Apart from an injunction, Mannath has also sought ₹1 lakh in damages from the defendants..The court agreed to grant a temporary injunction on the condition that Mannath gives an express undertaking that in the event the suit fails, she will compensate the defendants in actual cost. It also directed the plaintiff to supply copies of the plaint and other documents, and issued summons to the defendants.The matter will be heard next on August 31..The student was represented by a team from Crest Law Partners..[Read Order]