Why ANI has moved Delhi High Court against producers of IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices to the producers of Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar hijack on a copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by news agency Asia News International (ANI)..Justice Mini Pushkarna heard the matter briefly today and ordered Matchbox Shots, Benaras Mediaworks, and Netflix to file their replies to ANI’s plea for interim relief within two days.The case will be heard on Friday..According to ANI's plea, the show used its footage showing the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, General Parvez Musharraf, and terrorists Masood and others without any license.Advocate Sidhant Kumar appeared for the news agency. He argued that they do not want to be associated with a show which exonerates Pakistan of its role in the plane hijack and which is now being termed as a public relations exercise for the Pakistani spy agency ISI.Kumar said that the movie producer did approach them with a request for use of their footage in the year 2021 but there has been no agreement between the two sides.“This show is only controversial but anti-national and unpatriotic in the eyes of the public. I do not want to be associated with them… Four out of the six episodes use my footages extensively. I engaged a cameraperson in Pakistan who possibly has the only shot of Masooh Azhar being released in Pakistan,” Kumar stressed.He added that in one of the footages, ANI’s logo is visible which amounts to infringement of its trademark.He said that the four episodes of the show using ANI footage must be taken down and its logo be blurred..The counsel appearing for the movie producers rejected the claim.Advocate Hiren Kamod appeared for one of the producers and said that real news footage used in the show have been obtained through two other firms named Conceptual and Wilderness and an amount of ₹1.75 crore was paid for it.He added that the Reuters (a shareholder of ANI) had given these footages to the other firms and show producers have a deal with them.The show has been produced with a budget of over ₹100 crore. Is it believable that we will not pay for the use of the footages, he asked.Another counsel appearing for Netflix stated that from the very beginning of the series, it is clear that the hijack was the work of ISI and the reason why ANI’s logo is in one of the footage is because it was the first statement by PM Vajpayee to the media.“The ANI just happened to be there. The purpose of showing its logo is not to take advantage or ride on the ANI name. The show glorifies the pilots and our forces,” Netflix counsel told the Court.