 You cannot copyright a character: 'Rangoon' makers
Responding to a petition claiming that Kangana Ranaut's character in 'Rangoon' is based on Australian stunt actor Mary Evans, popularly known as 'Fearless Nadia', the makers have said that one cannot copyright a character in India. "It's like calling Hema Malini the 'dream girl'... Now one cannot have a copyright over dream girl," said an advocate.
Justice KR Shriram will be convening his court at 10 am on Thursday so that he can finish hearing the arguments with regards to the release of film Rangoon, and probably pass an order. The court is hearing a petition filed by Wadia Movietone Pvt Ltd which has dragged Rangoon makers to court over an uncanny resemblance between Kangana Ranaut's character, Julia, and Fearless Nadia, the pre-independence era Australian actress Mary Evans. Evans had taken up the screen name of Nadia, and had acted in many films like Hunterwali. Wadia lawyers Navroz Seervai and Priyanka Khimani had told the court that there were 19 similarities between their 1935  movie, Hunterwali, featuring Fearless Nadia, and Rangoon's trailer.On Monday, the court had asked both the parties to consider settling the issue, but none was ready to bow down. Senior advocate Virendra Tuljapurkar cited various judgements of Indian courts to show that copyright law does not cover a character. "You cannot copyright a character. Under American laws it can be, but they are redundant in India as a copyright over a character does not exist."Tuljapurkar also said that the character of Fearless Nadia was developed by Homi Wadia and his brother who wrote, directed and produced the films. "It was later that a company was formed which took over the films. But in their own petition they say that they are still in the process of looking for the scripts and screenplays. So they themselves do not have the copyright. Do they have documents showing title, assignment that the author has given it to them?"Senior advocate Ravi Kadam, on behalf of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures, told the court that no film had the character of Fearless Nadia. The actress used to be called fearless as she used to do daring stunts herself. Moreover, Evans was one of the few actresses who started working in films when not many women dared to do so and that's why she was nicknamed Fearless Nadia. "It's like calling Hema Malini, the dream girl. The actor has played many characters but she is known as dream girl. Now one cannot have a copyright over dream girl," said Kadam. He added that the film is set at the time of pre-independence era. "No claim can be made around historical facts. Fearless Nadia is a historic figure," argued Kadam. He said the film is about a dancer Julia who is in love with the director played by Saif Ali Khan. She later goes to Burma where she meets a soldier played by Shahid Kapoor, who is working for the Indian National Army and is on a secret mission.Kadam accepted that the Rangoon makers were in talks with the Wadias for copyright on Fearless Nadia between 2006 and 2015. Emails showing the conversations between the two parties were perused by the petitioners. "However when they said that the copyright is already been given to someone else it was not pursued any further," said Kadam.