Earlier this week, scriptwriter Jyoti Kapoor won a landmark case of copyright violation and breach of confidence against Bollywood director Kunal Kohli after eight months of legal tussle. The Supreme Court ordered Kohli to pay Kapoor Rs 25 lakh as compensation and give her credit for 'story/idea'. Anjum Rajabali, scriptwriter of Bollywood films such as Rajneeti, Satyagraha and Aarakshan, and executive committee member of the Film Writer's Association, speaks to Ritika Bhatia on what the judgment bodes for writers' creative rights in a film industry ruled by producers and superstars
What are your thoughts on the case and the final judgment in favour of the scripwriter?
Frankly, this should never have happened. It cost Kapoor a lot in legal fees, travel, time, mental tension. However, the victory has vindicated her position unambiguously, and that is very satisfying for all screenwriters and the Film Writers Association. It's a big boost to our fight against plagiarism.
How do you think the industry treats its creative pool, especially writers? How commonplace is a case like this - of plagiarisation, copyright infringement and so on?
Barring a few celebrated ones, screenwriters have generally found the going tough in the film and TV industries. Their due status, fees and rights ought to have been naturally accorded to them. However, this was never so, and frankly, screenwriters have historically found themselves very low on the food chain. Moreover, earlier copyright borders were treated as porous, and producers, directors and even writers poached without hesitation. While cases of infringement have reduced, FWA still receives six to seven genuine complaints a month.
'A friend who had given up on a copyright case half-way through called to say he was reopening the case,' Kapoor has told newspapers. Do you think this judgement will encourage writers to fight for their rights?
Oh definitely. Kapoor's fight to the finish is inspiring for all screenwriters, and will serve to instill confidence in those writers who find themselves in a similar condition. If you glance at Facebook, you'll find it flooded with reassuring responses to this news.
Kapoor also mentioned how people in the film industry advised her to drop the case so it doesn't affect her writing career. Is there a real threat of being blacklisted?
Not really. There may be some initial anxiety that writers face about this. But, this is a commercial industry. No matter who you are and what your record is, if you have a script that they want, they will come to you.
You've been at the forefront of the battle for film writer's rights. What safeguards exist today, are they adequate, and what more must be done?
The strongest backbone of the screenwriting community is its union. In Mumbai, we have FWA, which is now quite aggressive about securing and protecting the rights of its members, and also has rigorous protocols to ensure fair decisions. But, since it is not a legal authority, it is not always easy to enforce its decisions and objectives. For that the writer has to approach the High Court. On a positive note, FWA has initiated a standard contract (the Minimum Basic Contract for film and TV writers, and lyricists) for which collective negotiations are about to begin with producers' associations. If this goes through to mutual satisfaction, it will be quite effective in providing a safety scaffolding to individual writers for their fees, credits and copyright protection. It is high time that producers collectively took a tough and uncompromising stand against plagiarism, else this practice will turn our industry into an embarrassment internationally.
