[Reader-list] [vikalp] a good legal precedent for documentary film makers

[chanditamukherjee]

Dear Friends

The courts have once again set a good precedent for documentary film
makers! I am sending you a story which has a meaning for all watchers
of the media scene. It would be of special interest for those who
aspire to get their work produced by a TV channel.

The interesting thing is that despite this being a landmark judgement,
except for DNA (Daily News and Analysis, Mumbai) all the other
newspapers have refused to take the story. The magnates of the
established media seem to have a "You-don't-touch-me and
I-don't-touch-you" protocol in place. It appears that all the
newspapers and news magazines either have channels of their own or
have "strategic partnership" agreements with particular channels which
stop them from exposing one another.

Talk about cross-media monopoly and censorship! We could help to rip
this gag by spreading this news. On Monday, June 11th the matter goes
into appeal, so the story is not over yet.

Chandita Mukherjee

==================================================

Urmi Juvekar Vs CNN IBN

On 9th November 2005, documentary film maker and scriptwriter Urmi
Juvekar registered a concept for a reality television show called
`Work in Progress' with the Film Writers' Association.

The concept was simple: three citizens or citizen's groups at three
locations across the country take up a troublesome civic issue and try
to solve it on a campaign footing within a month. Reporters and
cameras from a channel follow the story as it unfolds. Every night on
the news bulletins of the channel a 3-minute capsule keeps us updated
on the developments at each location. At the end of the first three
weeks we see a 60 minute episode of the week's developments with a
forward look to the upcoming week. A concluding 60 minute finale comes
at end of the month.

This was a project that would draw public attention to all the good
work of activists under the Right to Information Act. A tremendous
idea for civic education and involvement, the immediate daily TV
coverage during the course of the campaign would have had implications
for the progress of the cases followed. Such an idea for a
reality-based programme could only have been realised with the
resources which a TV news channel, with its network of people all over
the country, can provide.

Here is how the story unfolded:

10th March 2006, Urmi wrote to Rasika Tyagi from CNN IBN after a
telephonic conversation and e-mailed her the concept note.

21st March 2006, Rasika Tyagi wrote back saying that she found the
concept note interesting and asked for a meeting.

3rd April 2006, a meeting is held in the CNN IBN office in Delhi. A
detailed concept note with treatment, sample characters and episode
development is presented along with the budget and production plan.
The budget is deemed to be high and CNN IBN offers some in-house
facilities to bring costs down. They also suggest an option of doing
it in two languages so that it can be broadcast on IBN 7 simultaneously.

Several more discussions are held in subsequent months and finally
Urmi is informed that the project will be considered after World Cup
2007.

14th May 2007, CNN IBN puts on a new show `Summer Showdown'. It is a
daily 3-minute capsule, but has no the-end-of-the-week review. Their
website ibnlive.com advertises it as a reality show showcasing five
families across five metros solving their civic problems in 4 weeks.

19th May 2007, Urmi is informed by friends that a show that looks very
similar to her `Work in Progress' is on air and she manages to see the
show.

21st May 2007, Urmi rushes to the Bombay High Court. The case is
scheduled for 23rd May in front of the vacation judge. She claims
infringement of copyright and breach of confidentiality.

23rd May 2007, counsel for CNN IBN makes a statement in court that
`Summer Showdown' is not a reality show but a live news clipping. The
court asks them to give an affidavit stating the same.

24th May 2007, CNN IBN asks the judge to change the order. Now they
admit that Summer Showdown' is a reality-based programme but insist
that it is not based on `Work in Progress'. They claim that their
previous day's statement in the court was misunderstood. Their appeal
is rejected and they are asked to file an affidavit on the 31st
stating that `Summer Showdown' is a live news clipping and not based
on Urmi's project.

29th May 2007, CNN IBN files an affidavit only stating that they have
not copied Urmi's idea. They also state that ideas are not protected
by copyright. The affidavit is filled with contradictory statements.
`Summer Showdown' now becomes a race between various civic authorities
in completing summer-related problems in four weeks. Traffic, monsoon
and garbage are portrayed as summer problems. In a play of semantics,
the civic problems dealt in `Summer Showdown' become macro level while
the problems suggested for `Work in Progress' problems are stated to
be local and at micro level.

At the same time the CNN IBN website continues to feature `Summer
Showdown' as a tale of five families across the country trying to
solve civic problems.

Urmi's sample episodes demonstrating the concept are dismissed as
fiction scripts. According to CNN IBN, her 25 page project proposal is
a mere idea. Well known anchor Rajdeep Sardesai denies knowledge of
the matter while his e-mail replies to Urmi state otherwise.

4th June 2007, Urmi sends a rejoinder, exposing the contradictions in
the affidavit, and pointing to the fact that although in the court
`Summer Showdown' was described as a live news clipping, it has now
become a reality show created in-house during March and April 2007.

6th May 2007, the case comes for hearing in Bombay High Court. The
counsel for CNN IBN pleads for more time since he has not been able to
prepare adequately. Urmi's counsel opposes the move as only 4 days
remain for the first round of 4 weeks of the telecast. The judge
agrees to listen to the case on merit.

The case is heard for four hours. Urmi's counsel puts all facts
regarding meetings and submissions on the table and deals with
similarities at great length. The counsel for CNN IBN sticks to the
single point that ideas are not protected by copyright and Urmi's idea
is just a rehash of `Rajni', the popular programme of the 1980s, and
several present day citizen journalism programmes on TV.

Urmi's counsel refutes these arguments, concluding his statement by
saying that if she does not get a stay order in this matter, then no
creative person who approaches a TV channel in order to realise his or
her idea will feel safe and protected by the law. The judgment is
scheduled for the next day.

7th June 2007, the judge dictates the judgment in his chamber for
three hours. He comes to the court and grants the stay order to Urmi
Juvekar on the basis of copyright claims and breach of
confidentiality. CNN IBN demands a relief of four days. The judge
reminds them that their programme cycle gets over on Saturday 9th June
in any case, so relief till Monday 11th June seems pointless.

8th June 2007, CNN IBN rushes into appeal but the division bench asks
for a copy of the judgment. That still being in preparation, they have
to stop there. On Monday 11th June, CNN IBN is expected make an appeal
to the bench and we will see how the story spins on.

In the meanwhile, considering the landmark nature of the judgement and
the significance of it for independent film makers, script-writers and
the Film Writers' Association, there is not much news of it about.

The simple reason: media refuses to touch the story. In that lies
another story, something of a warning to those who have to survive in
India Inc.


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