S.C. Gupte JUDGMENT
S.C. Gupte, J.
1. This suit is filed by the Plaintiffs inter alia for preventing misuse of confidential information and also infringement of copyright. The present order disposes of the Plaintiffs' ad-interim application for protection pending the hearing and final disposal of the Notice of Motion.
2. Plaintiff No. 1 is a production house engaged in production of entertainment content for television including TV serials. Plaintiff Nos. 2 and 3 are, respectively, the Chairman and Managing Director, and Chief Creative Director of Plaintiff No. 1.
3. The gist of the Plaintiffs' case is this : In or about March 2011, Plaintiff No. 2 developed a concept for a TV show, which was at that time called "Paachva Mausam Pyaar Ka". The concept was reduced to a concept note and was also registered with the Film Writer Association on 11 June 2013. The concept note registered by the Plaintiffs with the Association is reproduced verbatim in the plaint. The Plaintiffs thereafter worked from time to time and developed the concept and fleshed the same out extensively so as to convert it into a full-fledged TV series to be produced by Plaintiff No. 3. The title of the concept note underwent a few changes and eventually became "Badki Bahu" with a tag line "aaude main sabse chhoti.. umar main sabse badi... hai toh gharki chhoti bahu magar kehlaygi-Badki Bahu". The various versions and developments of the concept note are to be found in Exhibits A-1 to A-12, which are all, according to the Plaintiffs, original literary works developed in various forms for a television series planned by the Plaintiffs, and which are themselves copyrighted works. It is the Plaintiffs' case that between 11 June 2013 and about March 2014, the Plaintiffs worked on the various versions and presentations of the concept notes, which are to be found in Exhibits A-1 to A-12, which contain the developed concept, story, pitchline, plot, tracks, family, characters, names, set design, jewellery design, etc. The Plaintiffs from time to time shared the concept notes with Defendant No. 1. It is submitted that this sharing was in circumstances of confidence and was on the basis that Defendant No. 1 promised the Plaintiffs that the former would telecast a serial based on the Plaintiffs' concept notes and that the production of this serial would be entrusted to Plaintiff No. 1. In the course of this period, even a Letter of Intent was executed between Defendant No. 1 and the Plaintiffs for production of the serial "Badki Bahu". It is submitted by the Plaintiffs that when the television serial was ready to be launched by Defendant No. 1, Defendant No. 1 insisted that the Plaintiffs take on board a co-producer and recommended a few names in this regard. The parties discussed the modalities, but the Plaintiffs never accepted the proposal for taking a co-producer on board and instead withdrew the concept notes from Defendant No. 1. It is the Plaintiffs' case that at this stage, Defendant No. 1 offered to buy the Plaintiffs' concept outright or alternatively, pay the Plaintiffs royalty on a per episode basis. Again, none of these two alternatives was accepted by the Plaintiffs, who insisted on total withdrawal of the concept notes shared with Defendant No. 1. It is the Plaintiffs' case that in the course of the correspondence in this behalf between the parties, the Plaintiffs proposed that the Plaintiffs' concept, story, pitchline, plot, tracks, family tree, characters, names, set design, jewellery design, etc., which were developed by the Plaintiffs, and communicated during the talks between the parties for commissioning the serial titled "Badki Bahu", would not be used by Defendant No. 1. On this footing, the Plaintiffs even offered to consider transferring the title (only name........