Senior actress turned politician and former KFCC president, Jayamala hails the Supreme Court verdict which has upheld the right of women of all ages to worship in places of their choice. 

Now, the Minister for Kannada and Culture and Women and Child Development, Jayamala had claimed to have entered the sanctum sanctum sanctorum of Lord Ayyappa Swamy temple at Sabarimala, by accident when she was pushed inside it touching the idol in the late 80s. In the year 2006, she made it public following which she had to even face legal proceedings.

Soon after the SC passed it's judgement, Jayamala said, “It is a historical judgement, and a day for every women and those who support the cause of women to celebrate the verdict. I have time and again reiterated that there is no such thing as separate God for men and women. He is equal to one and all, and same has been stressed in our Constitution. Now, SC has upheld the rights of women, which is a moment for celebration.”

It was never a matter of religion, but a matter of rights. “Women has all the right to visit the temple and pray the Almighty,” she adds.

A very important judgement of the Supreme Court of India that will affect almost every film maker in the country has largely gone unnoticed. The judgement came in October and is about the copyright in a film title. The significant supreme court order says that there is no copyright on the title of a literary work including films. The case was about the title of a Hindi film but it will apply to any film made in India in any language and also the title of books and other works.

The case was about the Akshay Kumar film Desi Boyz. Writer Devkatta had approached the High Court in Mumbai claiming that he had written a story called Desi Boys and got it registered with the Film Writers Association in 2008. He had sent the synopsis to his friend who had sent it to others. Later a film named Desi Boyz (with spelling change) was seen by him and he filed the case. He had not seen the film and did not know if the film had the same story but the title was his and he had copyright on it, he had claimed. The High Court had ruled in his favour and the matter went to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court however said that Devkatta did not copyright on the title of his story. He can have a copyright only if it is a registered trademark whereas he had only registered the story with the screenwriters association and not the title with the trademark body. He could also have got relief if someone was trying to pass off another product as his with a similar sounding name but that was also not the case.

This judgement opens up many questions. How will a film title registered with the film chambers stand against any any impersonation? Sure no one can make a film with the same name but film makers cannot exploit the film title unless they register it as a trademark. This cannot be done in the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce. So if someone makes a T-shirt brand or toys using the name of a very popular film say; Mr & Mrs Ramachari t-shirts or Kendasampige toys, the film producers cannot claim copyright in it. 

Watch out for a follow up of this story on how the economics of film title copyright can be exploited tomorrow.

Also See

Why are so Many Film Titles in Controversy? - Exclusive

I Don't do films for Titles - Sudeep

Repeating Movie Titles - Analysis

Kannada film personalities have responded to the historic judgement of the Supreme Court of India decriminalizing Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. Senior director and writer Nagatihalli Chandrashekar said, "There is no freedom to select gender,caste,religion, country,or language to anyone before their birth. I’m so happy, that our #Supreme Court realised this hard reality at least now! I have strong faith in our judicial system. It’s the only #HOPE! Let’s treat everyone equally." 

Nagatihalli also had a message in Kannada. He said, "ಯಾವ ಜೀವಿಗೂ ಹುಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಮುಂಚೆ ತನ್ನ ಲಿಂಗ, ಜಾತಿ,ಧರ್ಮ, ದೇಶ,ಭಾಪೆಗಳ ಆಯ್ಕೆಗೆ ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ಯ್ರವಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಸತ್ಯ ಸುಪ್ರೀಂಗೆ ತಡವಾಗಿಯಾದರೂ ತಿಳಿಯಿತಲ್ಲ.. ನಮ್ಮ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಂಗ ವ್ವವಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಬಂತು. ಎಲ್ಲ ಮನುಷ್ಯರನ್ನೂ ಕೇವಲ ಮನುಷ್ಯರಂತೆ ಕಾಣೋಣ." 

Actor Aa Dinagalu Chetan (Chetan Kumar) on his online message said, "Not just verdict but wording evokes tears of joy. 'Majoritarian views & popular morality cannot dictate Constitutional rights'. Thoughtful, conscientious, a much-needed jolt to the system #Judiciary that makes us proud to be LGBTQIA+/straight & Indian!" 

Director KM Chaitanya retweeted a newspaper report about the Supreme Court judgement and quoted, "Homosexuality is not an offence in India, five Supreme Court judges declared today in a spectacular verdict for the gay rights movement in the country." Actress Vishaka Singh, who has acted in films like Housefull and Antaraatma tweeted, "Thank you #SupremeCourtIndia ! My friends can be slightly less fearful now. #LiveAndLetLive."

ಚಿತ್ರಮಂದಿರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗೀತೆ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ ವಿಚಾರ ಕುರಿತಂತೆ ಕಳೆದ ವರ್ಷ ಭಾರೀ ಚರ್ಚೆಯೇ ನಡೆದಿತ್ತು. ಸುಪ್ರೀಂಕೋರ್ಟ್‍ನ ತೀರ್ಪು ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರೀಯ ಮಟ್ಟದಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ವಿವಾದವನ್ನೇ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಸಿಬಿಟ್ಟಿತ್ತು. ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗೀತೆ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ ಮಾಡಿದ ನ್ಯಾಯಾಲಯ, ಹಂತ ಹಂತವಾಗಿ ಕೆಲವು ನಿರ್ಬಂಧಗಳನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದು ವಿನಾಯಿತಿ ನೀಡಿತ್ತು. ಇದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆಯೇ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ಮಂದಿರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗೀತೆ ಬೇಕೇ ಎಂಬ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರದಿಂದ ವರದಿಯನ್ನೂ ಕೇಳಿತ್ತು.

ಕೆಲವೇ ತಿಂಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗೀತೆ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ ಮಾಡುವ ಪರ ವಾದ ಮಂಡಿಸಿದ್ದ ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರ, ಈಗ ತಿದ್ದುಪಡಿಯ ಉತ್ತರ ನೀಡಿದೆ. ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗೀತೆಯನ್ನು ಚಿತ್ರಮಂದಿರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ ಮಾಡುವ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಇಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿದೆ.

ರಾಷ್ಟ್ರಗೀತೆ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ ವಿಚಾರ ದೇಶಪ್ರೇಮದ ಹೆಸರಲ್ಲಿ ಅನೈತಿಕ ಪೊಲೀಸ್‍ಗಿರಿಗೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಹಿನ್ನೆಲೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡಿರುವ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳಿವೆ. ಹಾಗೆಂದು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ವಿನಾಯಿತಿ ಎಂದೂ ಇಲ್ಲ.  ಈ ಕುರಿತು ನಿಯಮಾವಳಿ ರೂಪಿಸಲು ಸಮಿತಿ ರಚನೆ ಮಾಡಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಆ ಸಮಿತಿ 6 ತಿಂಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ವರದಿ ನೀಡಲಿದೆ. ಆ ಸಮಿತಿಯ ವರದಿ ಬರುವವರೆಗೆ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯ ಬೇಡ ಎನ್ನುವುದು ಕೇಂದ್ರ ಸರ್ಕಾರದ ಮನವಿ. ಸುಪ್ರೀಂ ಕೋರ್ಟ್ ನಿರ್ಣಯ ಇನ್ನೂ ಹೊರಬಿದ್ದಿಲ್ಲ.