Hindi
US company sues Studio18 for copyright infringement
MUMBAI: Two years after the release of Singh Is Kinng, its distributor Viacom18 has been sued in the US on grounds of copyright infringement by the American Rights Management Company.
According to the lawsuit filed yesterday in New York District Court, the company has claimed that the Viacom-distributed film Singh is King is a rip-off of the 1929 short story Madame La Gimp made by Damon Runyon.
The film has also been copied from films like Frank Capra‘s Lady For A Day, A Pocket Full Of Miracles and Jackie Chan‘s Miracles, the lawsuit claims.
According to the complaint, the company obtained rights from Sheldon Abend‘s Author‘s Research Company in 2000.
Abend was an esteemed literary agent who represented the estates of authors including Runyon, George Bernard Shaw, Tennessee Williams, David O. Selznick and many others.
In the 1980s, Abend took on MCA, Alfred Hitchcock, and Jimmy Stewart in court after the classic film Rear Window was shown on television.
Abend controlled the underlying short story that served as the basis of the film, and the case culminated in a landmark 1990 Supreme Court decision that established the so-called ‘Abend Rule‘ that deals with the continued distribution of a derivative work during the copyright renewal period of the underlying work.
Since Abend emerged victorious in that case, there haven‘t been many lawsuits targeting distribution of derivative works, but that could be changing.
In 2008, the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust sued DreamWorks and Steven Spielberg over Disturbia, a film that was either inspired by or directly stolen from Rear Window.
The litigation has been stuck in the pre-trial phase since the case was filed. In early April, the plaintiff filed a memorandum with the New York District Court on why the case should be heard.
In its lawsuit in the Singh Is Kinng case, the American Rights Management Company has claimed damages to the tune of $30,000 per infringement, and/or $150,000 per willful infringement.
Apart from Viacom18 and Studio18, companies like The Indian Film Company, Vipul Shah‘s (producer) Blockbuster Entertainment, Reliance MediaWorks, Big Home Video, MTV India and Viva Entertainment – involved with the film in various ways – have also been named in the lawsuit.
Produced by Vipul Shah and directed by Anees Bazmee, Singh Is Kinng stars Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Sonu Sood and Kirron Kher.
Hindi
Dhurandhar 2 hit by YouTube leak amid record box office run
Cam-rip surfaces online but blockbuster streak continues at record pace
MUMBAI: It has been a dramatic week for Dhurandhar: The Revenge. Even as the espionage thriller smashes box office records, a piracy scare briefly threatened to steal its thunder after a full-length version surfaced on YouTube.
The leak emerged on March 30 via a channel titled “A2z movie”, which uploaded what appeared to be a cam-recorded print of the film. Clocking in at nearly three hours and 49 minutes, the footage was reportedly blurry but complete enough to spark spoilers and fan outrage online.
Soon after, users on X began flagging the issue, explicitly naming the “A2z movie” channel in their posts while tagging the film’s makers and urging swift legal action. Fans of director Aditya Dhar and lead star Ranveer Singh were particularly vocal, helping the issue gain rapid traction.
Within hours, the video was taken down, likely through a mix of platform detection systems and intervention by producers Jio Studios and B62 Studios.
Despite the leak, the film’s theatrical run remains virtually unshaken. As of March 31, the sequel has raked in an estimated Rs 872.17 crore net in India, with worldwide collections soaring to Rs 1,392.23 crore. Its Hindi opening day alone brought in Rs 102.55 crore, setting a new benchmark.
In a notable milestone, the film has matched Pushpa 2 as the fastest Indian release to cross the Rs 1,000 crore mark globally, achieving the feat in just seven days.
Interestingly, the version leaked online is believed to be an earlier cut. Midway through its theatrical run, the makers issued revised prints after eagle-eyed viewers spotted a fleeting editing error involving a cameraman’s reflection. The corrected version now plays across cinemas, adding an unusual twist to the film’s release journey.
Directed by Aditya Dhar, the high-stakes sequel stars Ranveer Singh alongside Sanjay Dutt, R. Madhavan, Arjun Rampal and Sara Arjun. The film has drawn praise for its scale and action sequences, though some critics have pointed to its intense violence and layered political themes.
For now, piracy may have made noise, but it has not slowed the juggernaut. If anything, the episode underlines the film’s cultural grip, proving that even a leak cannot derail a box office storm already in full force.
